Market has enough supply of essentials, claims minister

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FE Report
Market has enough supply of essentials and there is no reason the price goes up in the month of Ramadan, said Commerce Minister M Faruk Khan Wednesday.
The import situation is satisfactory and the market will have a sufficient quantity of essentials during the holy month, he said at a meeting with a group of importers and traders at his office.
The businessmen have assured the minister that there is no possibility of artificial crisis of essentials, said Public Relations Officer of the commerce minister, Fayzul Haque.
The businessmen demanded that the government compel retailers to exhibit wholesale price charts and give cash memo to their customers, he said.
The price gap is huge between wholesale and retail levels and consumers can judge the price difference if retailers show them the wholesale cash memo, said Md Golam Mowla, general secretary of Moulvi Bazar Baboshayee Samity.
"The minister requested us to make profit but not to indulge in profiteering," he said.
The meeting held discussion on all essential items and the businessmen advised the minister that the government should carefully monitor the supply of sugar and edible oil, he added.
"The prices of the commodities have a rising trend in the international market and this might have some impact on the domestic market," Mr Mowla said.
In Ramadan, there is a tendency that people buy essentials for the whole month at one go, which puts pressure on the market, he said.
"If they shop weekly this will put less pressure on the market," he explained.