The head of the government’s consumer rights agency sees no reason for a sugar crisis because, in his words, Bangladesh has a “sufficient” stock of raw materials to produce the sweetener.
AHM Shafiquzzaman, director general of the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection, vowed tough action if traders are found to be involved in attempts to destabilise the market by stockpiling sugar, reports bdnews24.com.
Speaking at a press conference after a meeting at Karwan Bazar Traders Association on Sunday, he said Bangladesh imports 98 per cent of the raw materials from countries like Brazil or Argentina to meet the demand for 1.8 million tonnes of sugar.
The letters of credit opened for sugar import suggest Bangladesh has “enough” raw materials for sugar, according to him. “In that case, we aren’t supposed to have a crisis in the market. The problem is the raw sugar cannot be refined due to the ongoing gas and power crisis.”
Retailers have been charging customers higher than the government-fixed rates for sugar for quite some time. They raised the prices further by the end of last week, citing a supply crunch.
The DNCRP on Saturday launched a drive to see if the price hike was reasonable. Mobile courts fined nearly 150 dealers and retailers more than Tk 600,000 mostly for keeping no records of sugar trade.
The traders of Karwan Bazar also claimed in the meeting they were facing a shortage because the mills were not supplying enough sugar.
Shafiquzzaman assured them of measures to end the crisis 'soon'. He also warned them against making extra profits by taking advantage of the situation.
“I’ve asked the mills to release all the sugar they have. But we won’t let you [traders] make a profit of Tk 20-30 per kg.”
He said if prices rise too high, customers will shun products. “You must save the consumers first.”
Shafiquzzaman also asked the traders to keep receipts and other documents. “If you don’t give memos, we will assume that you are involved in manipulation.”
