It cannot be said for sure when the edible oil price will come down in the local market as its price fluctuates depending on the international market on which the government has no control, said Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi.
"We don't have the ability to reduce edible oil prices in the international market. Only Brazil could … as we (Bangladesh) imports 90 per cent of edible oils from Brazil for local consumption," said the minister at a press briefing marking the World Consumer Rights Day held at the conference room of the Ministry of Commerce.
He came up with the observations amid the price surge of cooking oils and some other essential commodities in the local market.
However, the minister expected that the edible oil price would decrease a bit following the government's announcement of value-added tax exemption.
It is not possible to check if a consumer buys 10-litre edible oil against his or her requirement of five-litre, said Mr Munshi.
If people try to purchase more than their required quantity, it leads to the shortage of commodities in the market, said the minister.
Therefore, he requested the consumers to purchase the essential commodities as per individual requirement. "…please, don't purchase beyond your needs."
"We have sufficient stock of commodities that will meet the requirement during the Ramadan," he said.
"The Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) is prepared to provide the essential commodities at subsidised rates to 10 million families during Ramadan," said the minister.
"So, the prices of the essentials might come down. We are trying our level best to keep the prices at a tolerable level until Ramadan."
Companies in different countries usually offer discounts on the occasion of Ramadan and Eid - this practice is very much absent here in Bangladesh, regretted the minister.
Mr Munshi admitted that some unscrupulous traders might have been involved with hoarding essential commodities.
About this year's Consumer Rights Day, the commerce minister said that consumers could lodge complaints against traders by dialling 16121 if they were deceived by the latter.
Regarding Evaly, the minister said the government had nothing to do as the issue was now pending with the court.
Senior Secretary of the commerce ministry Tapan Kanti Gosh and Director General of the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection AHM Shafiquzzaman, among others, were present.
talhabinhabib@yahoo.com