Three firms allowed to import eggs
Friday, 21 August 2009
FE Report
The government has given permission to three trading firms to import eggs in order to reduce the price of the product during the month of Ramadan, said commerce minister Faruk Khan on Thursday.
"The ministry was under pressure to allow import of eggs for the last four months and during this period we had discussions with poultry traders thrice and requested them to reduce the price," he said at a press briefing after a meeting with cold storage owners and farm produce importers.
But, they failed to reduce the egg price and later on increased the price of one-day old chicks, he added.
"Our understanding is that there is a gap between demand and supply and some traders are taking advantage of the situation," he explained at the press briefing.
The minister admitted that it is not possible to effectively control the retail market under the regime of free market economy.
"We are a democratically elected government and cannot do whatever we want," he said adding, "We do not want to reduce the price by imposing penalty but rather through creating awareness."
The government is trying to control the wholesale market and has fixed the prices of edible oil and sugar recently, he said.
The government has fixed the price of soybean oil at Tk 73 per kg and sugar Tk 39 per kg at mill gate to ease price pressure during the month of Ramadan.
Mr Khan said the cold storage owners agreed that they will sell potatoes at Tk 22-23 per kg at storage gate and logically the retail price should not exceed Tk 25-26 per kg.
"It will be unjustified to charge Tk 28 per kg for the produce," he said.
Over 1.0 million tonnes of potato are in stock in the cold storages.
The minister, however, said if the market does not respond and price remains still high, the government will allow import of potatoes also.
About onion, the minister said good quality imported onion is selling at Tk 18-19 per kg at the wholesale level and it should not exceed Tk 21-22 per kg at retail level.
Prices of ginger and garlic are on the rise in the international market but prices will not exceed Tk 55-60 per kg during Ramadan, he said.
The government has given permission to three trading firms to import eggs in order to reduce the price of the product during the month of Ramadan, said commerce minister Faruk Khan on Thursday.
"The ministry was under pressure to allow import of eggs for the last four months and during this period we had discussions with poultry traders thrice and requested them to reduce the price," he said at a press briefing after a meeting with cold storage owners and farm produce importers.
But, they failed to reduce the egg price and later on increased the price of one-day old chicks, he added.
"Our understanding is that there is a gap between demand and supply and some traders are taking advantage of the situation," he explained at the press briefing.
The minister admitted that it is not possible to effectively control the retail market under the regime of free market economy.
"We are a democratically elected government and cannot do whatever we want," he said adding, "We do not want to reduce the price by imposing penalty but rather through creating awareness."
The government is trying to control the wholesale market and has fixed the prices of edible oil and sugar recently, he said.
The government has fixed the price of soybean oil at Tk 73 per kg and sugar Tk 39 per kg at mill gate to ease price pressure during the month of Ramadan.
Mr Khan said the cold storage owners agreed that they will sell potatoes at Tk 22-23 per kg at storage gate and logically the retail price should not exceed Tk 25-26 per kg.
"It will be unjustified to charge Tk 28 per kg for the produce," he said.
Over 1.0 million tonnes of potato are in stock in the cold storages.
The minister, however, said if the market does not respond and price remains still high, the government will allow import of potatoes also.
About onion, the minister said good quality imported onion is selling at Tk 18-19 per kg at the wholesale level and it should not exceed Tk 21-22 per kg at retail level.
Prices of ginger and garlic are on the rise in the international market but prices will not exceed Tk 55-60 per kg during Ramadan, he said.