The Ministry of Commerce (MoC) is set to hold a meeting with the stakeholders concerned today (Wednesday) to devise necessary strategies for keeping the prices of essential items stable during the upcoming holy month of Ramadan, officials said.
The meeting with traders and trade bodies will review the price situation in the local kitchen markets, with Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi in the chair.
Representatives from top importers, retailers and wholesalers as well as leaders of trade bodies, including the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI), are expected to attend the meeting, according to a commerce ministry source.
Usually, common people suffer a lot due to unusual hikes in prices of some key essential items, especially edible and onion, during the fasting month and Eid-ul-Azha.
"We have taken initiatives to keep the prices stable throughout the year. We will sit at the end of this month to analyse the price-and-supply situation of the commodities," a senior commerce ministry official said at his secretariat office on Tuesday.
In the meeting, necessary steps would be taken to stabilise the prices of garlic, sugar, edible oil, onion, date and gram during Ramadan. The market situation would have to be kept under control during the holy month in the interests of the common people.
Presently, both prices and supplies of various essentials in the country are now in upward trend, an expert said.
However, the government has also decided to sell the key essential items like edible oil, onion, sugar, gram, date and lentil at subsidised rates to around 10 million families ahead of Ramadan.
The commerce ministry has formed a nine-member committee to coordinate the initiative properly, said a source.
The move has been taken aiming to keep their prices within the buying capacity of the common people during Ramadan when prices of these mass-consumed items are usually jacked up.
