The government has decided to request five big importers to keep the supply and price of edible oil stable especially during the upcoming Ramadan, officials said.
It also decided to take necessary steps to stabilize the prices of onion, garlic, sugar, edible oil, onion, date and gram during the holy month.
The decisions came at a recent meeting between the commerce ministry and representatives from importers and traders of the kitchen items, said the officials.
"We have discussed issues relating to the price, supply and stock of the essential items. The ministry has taken necessary measures to ensure adequate supply of the products in the market," said an official who attended the meeting.
He said the issue of edible oil price came up for discussion issue as its price shot up in the recent weeks to a level that is much higher than the purchasing power of consumers.
Usually, the common people of the country suffer a lot due to the unusual hike in the prices of key essential items during the Ramadan and Eid-ul-Azha.
Meanwhile, the government has approved purchasing 0.15 million tonnes of onion through the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).
The agency has already imported 80,000 tonnes of onions and would collect more from the local sources if necessary.
The government has also set a target to procure 50,000 tonnes of soybean oil through TCB for the current calendar year. The TCB has already completed the necessary process of procuring 23,000 tonnes of edible oil.
Currently, some 0.263 million tonnes of edible oil remained stock in the private sector.
The state-run TCB has planned to purchase 25,000 tonnes and 10,000 tonnes of sugar and lentils respectively.
Besides, the agency has planned to import 8,000 tonnes and 500 tonnes of gram and date respectively ahead of the Ramadan.
The commerce ministry had a separate review meeting with the oil traders last week, with minister Tipu Munshi in the chair, aiming to thrash out a solution to soaring edible oil prices in the market. The meeting decided to fix a rational price of the item.
"Prices of edible will be fixed every month if necessary. The national committee on fixing the prices of essential items will set a rational price if necessary. The ministry is now working on it," a senior official said.
