Two lakh tonnes of onion to arrive before Ramadan
The government will import two lakh tonnes of onion soon to meet local demand and arrest any price spiral before the fasting month of Ramadan beginning in April, said Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi yesterday.
The state-owned Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) and conglomerates City Group, Meghna Group and S Alam Group will import the onion in equal shares.
The TCB will then sell the onion at a fixed price to consumers, said Munshi. The TCB is currently using trucks as sales points around the country for imported onion at Tk 35 per kilogramme (kg).
Munshi said this at a press conference after a meeting with importers, wholesalers and retailers of basic commodities at his secretariat in Dhaka.
The ministry convened the press meet to inform of the level of stocks and situation pertaining to import of some widely consumed goods during Ramadan and subsequent Eid-ul-Fitr.
Last month Munshi said the TCB onion was subsidised mainly to tame the skyrocketing prices. He said the airfare for one kg was Tk 150.
The three conglomerates got picked as those had gone for emergency imports during the recent crisis when domestic market price per kg climbed to nearly Tk 300.
The minister urged the businesspeople to be rational in making profits so that consumers need not face any major price shock on basic commodities during Ramadan.
Munshi yet again assured that there were adequate stocks of some essential commodities like edible oil, gram, ginger, garlic and dates to meet the customary increase in demand during the month of fasting for Muslims.
Regarding complaints of rotten onion being imported, the minister said the item was perishable for which some 6 to 7 percent of imports tend to go bad during transportation.
Tofail Ahmed, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on commerce, suggested that the minister hold periodic views-exchange meetings with the businesspeople so that abnormal price hikes can be avoided.
