Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi has blamed the 'shortage' of transports during national election for recent rice price hike.
He also assured that the rice prices will come down within a week, reports UNB.
The minister made the remarks while talking to reporters after paying tributes to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by placing a wreath at his shrine at Tungipara in Gopalganj.
The minister said he along with Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder sat with rice mill owners, traders and others concerned on Thursday when they promised to reduce the rice prices.
He said the price of coarse rice remains steady although there was a rise in that of fine ones.
"Our target will be to keep the prices of coarse rice stable as common people of our country consume those," he said, adding that they were trying to control the prices of fine rice, too.
Tipu Munshi also said there are huge paddy and rice in government silos. "The stocks are higher than last year's. So, there's nothing to be worried about."
Turning to the country's trade deficit, he said there was much progress in trade in the last 10 years. "Now, we're trying to venture into the markets of China and India having 2.50 billion people."
The minister also said they have a plan to reach the RMG export target to 60 billion by 2021. "We hope export targets will be achieved if we can capture the markets of the two countries."
He said steps have been taken to explore export market in Indonesia, a country of 250 million people. "Our export deficit will come down if our efforts see a success," he said.