Onion crisis to linger for a month: Munshi
Consumers will have to bear high prices of onion for one more month until new consignments of the vegetable arrive from Egypt and Turkey and its harvesting season begins in Bangladesh, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said yesterday.
Local stocks are almost depleted and the first consignment of the Egyptian variety may arrive in a week, which would help in bringing down its prices in Chattogram from Tk 110-120 to Tk 70-80 a kilogramme, he said.
The minister spoke while replying to queries of journalists after opening a month-long international trade and export fair organised by the Chittagong Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the port city’s outer stadium. “We are importing some onion from Myanmar but the quantity is not enough compared to our requirement,” the minister also said.
Some big traders have already opened letters of credit to import the commodity from Egypt and Turkey but it would take some time to arrive, he said.
However, the onion harvesting season will start at the end of November, he said. The minister said inclement weather was mainly responsible for the price hike of onion, hampering its transport countrywide.
Munshi said he had recently sat with the agriculture minister who had ensured of taking necessary steps to increase local production of onion to cut Bangladesh’s dependence on imports from next year. The open market sale of onion through the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh will start in Chattogram soon, he said.
