The state-run Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC) has raised the sugar price by Tk 20 a kg in a single day just two weeks before the holy month of Ramadan.
The new maximum retail price (MRP) of sugar has been set at Tk 160 a kg by the BSFC which they attributed to the rising costs both in the domestic and global markets.
The mill-gate price is Tk 150 while dealer rate Tk 157 and MRP Tk 160 a kg from Thursday, the BSFIC said.
BSFIC secretary Chowdhury Ruhul Amin Kaiser said the corporation had sent a letter to the ministry concerned to review the price amid the fueling production cost as well as the global market price.
"The ministry has recently given its consent to raise the sugar prices," he said.
He further said the BSFIC is expecting to produce 35,000 tonnes of sugar this year. It was 21500 tonnes last year.
Most of the sugar will have to be given for the government's rationing programmes for different government agencies.
Mr Kaiser also said before the 2019-20 fiscal year the BSFIC used to fix sugar prices. After that, the commerce ministry took the lead.
The decision came at a time when the Prime Minister has recently told the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to minimise duties on certain items, including sugar, to tame down its prices during the holy fasting month.
A few months back, the commerce ministry, with the participation of the private sector, fixed packet sugar MRP at Tk 140 a kg.
However, imported sugar, refined by private companies, retailed between Tk 145 and Tk 155 a kg in the city markets despite such fixation.
BSFC sugar was being sold at Tk 155-170 a kg in the groceries during the period, according to city groceries.
The Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) vice-president SM Nazer Hossain said that the statement of the government-agency on a rise in prices would surely impact the market.
He said the industries ministry should have refrained from the decision ahead of Ramadan.
It could further make sugar costlier which is already much higher in the country.
Asked, senior commerce secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh told the FE that the industries ministry doesn't consult with them before taking such a decision.
"But, we are not worry about the surge in the BSFIC sugar price as they comprise only 1.0 per cent of the market," he said, adding that it wouldn't affect the mainstream market.
The senior secretary also said the private sector would rather make the price more rational before Ramadan.
Bangladesh has a demand for 2.2 million tonnes of sugar of which state-run mills produced 21,500 tonnes last year.
Seven big importers-cum-refiners help meet the demand through import while they also dominate the market, according to market insiders.
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