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Traders raised the price of edible oil again taking the price of one litre packaged soya bean oil to Tk 180 in different city markets on Monday, despite the government’s assurance that the price of the commodity would not rise until Eid-ul-Fitr in May.
The commerce ministry and edible oil refiners set the price of one litre packaged soya bean oil at Tk 168 on February 6 and decided to keep the price unchanged until Eid but traders hardly kept their promise.
They started to increase the price of edible oil a day after the decision, creating a price disorder.
The edible oil refiners on Sunday sent a letter to the government, demanding to increase the price of the commodity by Tk 12 a litre.
Without waiting for the government to give any decision, traders on Monday increased the price of edible oil by Tk 5-10 a litre.
Commerce ministry high officials said that refiners demanded to increase the price of edible oil showing the price hike of the item on international markets but the ministry did not entertain their demand.
According to the state-own Trading Corporation of Bangladesh, soya bean oil and palm oil was traded Tk 27 and Tk 32 higher than the government-approved rate for a litre respectively.
In the latest review, the government had set the price of unpackaged soya bean oil at Tk 143 a lire but the item was sold for Tk 170 a litre in the market.
The price of palm oil was set at Tk 133 a litre but TCB data showed that the item was sold for Tk 165 a litre in the city markets on Monday.
TCB data showed that both the packaged and the unpackaged soya bean oil were retailed at the same prices of Tk 170 a litre.
The city retailers termed the data unauthentic.
Md Maksud, a retailer at the Mohammadpur area in the city, said that the wholesale price of one litre packaged soya bean oil exceeded Tk 170 on Monday.
He said that one litre of packaged soya bean oil was retailed between Tk 175 and Tk 180 in many stores in the city.
Md Nurul Islam Mollah, secretary of Bangladesh Vegetable Oil Refiners and Vanaspati Manufacturers Association, on Monday told New Age that they sent a letter to commerce minister Tipu Munshi for raising the price of soya bean oil to Tk 180 a litre.
‘We made the request considering the sudden price hike of edible oil on international markets but the ministry was yet to give any decision,’ he said.
Vegetable oil refiners on Sunday met the commerce minister and sent a letter demanding an increase of edible oil prices but the ministry did not entertain the request, commerce ministry additional secretary AHM Shafiquzzaman told New Age.
He acknowledged that the price of edible oil increased suddenly on international markets but the oil would come to Bangladesh after Eid-ul-Fitr.
‘So the price of edible oil last reviewed on February 6 will remain unchanged up to the Eid,’ said Shafiquzzaman, also the director general at Directorate of National Consumers’ Right Protection.
Regarding the edible oil price hike in the local market, he said that the government agencies would take action against traders who would charge additional prices than the government-set rate.
(NA)
