Govt to raise commodity supply 55.18pc in FY'22

The government will procure more than 0.273 million tonnes of key essential commodities for the current fiscal year (FY) as part of a market intervention strategy to keep prices in the local market stable, officials said.
The quantity would be 55.18 per cent higher than that of last FY's 0.176 million tonnes, purchased by the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).
The TCB sells essential commodities at subsidised rates to help keep the commodity market stable.
"A buffer stock of essential items will be created to offset the short supply of kitchen items," said a senior official, adding that the TCB has already started procuring the commodities through open tenders and quotations.

The items include edible oil, sugar, onion, red lentil, gram and date.
Under a plan for FY 2021-22, the government has set a target to procure 75,000 tonnes of soybean oil, 75,000 tonnes of onion, 65,000 tonnes of sugar and 48,000 tonnes of lentil.
Besides, the state trading agency planned to import 10,000 tonnes of gram and 750 tonnes of date ahead of the holy month of Ramadan.
Presently, the TCB has a stock of 8,141 tonnes of soybean oil, sugar and lentil, according to TCB data.
Meanwhile, necessary agreements have already been signed to procure 43,740 tonnes of soybean oil, sugar, onion and red lentil, said an official at the commerce.
The ministry has already taken necessary measures to ensure adequate supply of these items in the market, he said.
He also pointed out that the government's teams were closely monitoring and watching the supply and price movements so that the manipulators cannot create any artificial crisis in the kitchen market.
The TCB has been operating mobile shops of essential items at different parts of the country since mid-2020 due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Currently, the agency was selling three items - soybean oil, sugar and lentil. It will add onion to the list soon, said a TCB source.
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