Commerce adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman said Thursday prices and supply of liquid and powdered milk, widely consumed during the month of Ramadan, will remain stable.
He said this after holding a meeting with the country's leading milk producers, suppliers and importers.
"We have been assured that prices of milk will not rise in Ramadan," he said.
Mr. Rahman said milk production at the dairy farms of state-owned Milk Vita will be enhanced from 150 tonnes to 250 tonnes a day to boost supply in Ramadan.
He said: "Some milk producers, suppliers and importers informed us that that they would sell liquid and powdered milk through opening outlets in Ramadan."
Apart from this, Mr. Rahman said, some suppliers have also informed that they would introduce economy pack of powdered milk to help low-income group afford the food item.
"We have also discussed demand and supply situation of milk in Ramadan," he said, adding there will be no shortfall in supply because of higher import during June-July.
The country imported 37,946 tonnes of powdered milk in June-July of this year, which is 33.29 per cent more than that of the same period of the previous year.
The commerce adviser, who also held meeting on the day with officials of BDR, TCB, industrial units and leaders of leading trade bodies, said there will a good number of fair-price outlets in the country for the benefit of low-income group.
Side-by-side the outlets of the government's agencies, he said, some trade bodies will open fair-price shops at their own initiative.
He said BDR will operate 110 outlets in Dhaka and 80 others in Chittagong and other parts of the country.
Ansar will run 46 outlets during the Ramadan while state-owned Trading Corporation of Bangladesh will sell consumer goods, including cheek pea, onion, oil and lentil, from its outlets and 15 mobile vans in Dhaka and other divisional cities.
Answering question, he said the government through VGF card and Open Market Sales (OMS) of rice will support the people in rural areas.
Meanwhile, he said the OMS of rice will start from August 20.
"We have requested trade bodies including Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association to open fair-price outlets."
"We have made the request as the middle and lower middle class people, who can not go to the BDR-run outlets due to shyness, can buy from the outlets run by trade bodies and leading industrial units," he said.
Mr. Rahman said Meghna group, TK group, Mostafa group and Prime group of companies have informed in the meeting that they would open the fair-price shops at their own initiative.
Answering a question, he said: "Fixation of price at the moment will not be appropriate as prices of some commodities are showing declining trend in global market."
But, he said monitoring by the government agencies will be intensified to check price manipulation during Ramadan.
