Welcome to Business Outlook
Related Articles
The commerce ministry on Monday formed a committee to review the existing price setting formula for essential commodities with the aim of finding out ways of reducing the prices of imported items on the local market.
The six-member committee headed by commerce ministry additional secretary AHM Shafiquzzaman would suggest a comprehensive price setting method for essential commodities within a month.
‘The committee will analyse the existing price setting formula which was introduced a decade ago,’ Shafiquzzaman told New Age following a workshop on the price setting formula at the commerce ministry in the capital, Dhaka.
Now, the prices of essential commodities, including edible oil and sugar, are set considering cost of processing, import, tariff, bottling, depreciation of refineries, port charge, worker wages and transport cost, he said.
Shafiquzzaman said that there were some areas in the existing formula to work on.
‘We will prepare a comprehensive price setting method and submit it to the commerce ministry. The suggestions would include how the cost of production of pet bottle, depreciation of refineries and other process losses could be reduced,’ he said.
Commerce ministry sources said that against the backdrop of a continued price hike of essential commodities especially edible oil and sugar, the ministry had taken the move to review the existing price setting formula.
Commerce secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh, representatives from different ministries and departments and experts from Dhaka University and Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh attended the workshop.
(NA)
