Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi. File Photo
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said, "Retailers and distributors have been behind the soybean oil crisis. Their manipulation has created an oil crisis in the market. However, during the month of Ramadan, we requested the traders not to increase the price of edible oil and to keep the supply normal. But the traders did not keep their word. It was our mistake to believe the merchants. "
He made the remarks in a press conference after a meeting on edible oil market management held at the Commerce Ministry's meeting room at the Secretariat on Monday (May 9, 2022). The meeting was organized by the Ministry of Commerce to find out why the soybean oil crisis has arisen in the market and why the price of oil has gone up. Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh, Citigroup Chairman Fazlur Rahman, TK Group Director Shafiqul Athhar, S Alam Group Senior Manager Salauddin Ahmed were present at the meeting.
Asked by reporters whether the failure to control edible oil prices was a failure of the Commerce Ministry, Tipu Munshi said, "Our failure is justified. Because, I told the traders with love, do not increase the price of soybean oil in the month of Ramadan. I believed them. It is our failure to believe this. I read as a child, it is a sin to lose faith in people. People have to believe. But the traders did not speak.
Soybean oil suddenly disappeared from the market before Eid-ul-Fitr. On the first working day after the Eid holiday, the government increased the price of bottled soybean oil by Tk 38 to Tk 198 per liter. The price of open soybean oil was increased by Tk 44 per liter to Tk 180. Despite the price hike, the soybean oil market has not yet normalized.
Citygroup chairman Fazlur Rahman, who was present at the press conference, said mill owners were not responsible for the oil crisis. Oil is in the market, oil is not out of the market. The sudden decision to raise prices has created a market crisis for retailers. He said the supply of oil in the market will increase in a day or two.
At the press conference, the Commerce Minister further said, "The import price of crude soybean oil has been fixed at Tk 198 per liter in the country at USD 1,750 per tonne." But now the cost of importing soybean oil per ton is USD 1,950. See what's going to happen next. These words need to be said in the media. '
The Commerce Minister said, "Everyone has to tell the truth, no matter how difficult it may be. As I have admitted, it is wrong to believe traders. Traders have taken advantage. They promised not to raise prices, but did not keep their word”, he said.
|Source: Online/SZK
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