The Ministry of Commerce (MoC) will strengthen further its monitoring to keep price of onion stable.
There is adequate supply of this key spice item in the market, officials of the ministry said.
When contacted, Md Ziaur Rahman-assistant trade consultant of the commerce ministry said at his secretariat office, "We will take steps to strengthen monitoring to see the stock of onion, a key kitchen item."
About the recent spike in onion prices, a senior official of the MoC said the increased rate of the item in Indian market for flooding has pushed its price up in Bangladesh market.
The price hike of the perishable item in the neighbouring country could increase its price in Bangladesh marginally, but the price has increased more than that, he commented.
Both the production and import of the item are sufficient in the country, and there is no reason for such increase of onion price, he added.
"We will go for strong monitoring to examine any manipulation and syndication in onion price by any unscrupulous trader," the ministry official added further.
Imported onion was sold at Tk 45 to Tk 55 per kg in different kitchen markets while locally produced onion was sold at Tk 50 to Tk 55 per kg on Wednesday.
The per kg price was Tk 32 to Tk 35 and Tk 40 to Tk 45 for imported and locally produced onion respectively one month ago, according to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).
According to official data, the annual demand for onion in the country is about 2.4 million tonnes.
The country produced 1.9 million tonnes during last season.
Bangladesh imported over 0.57 million tonnes of onions from India in the 2018-19 Indian fiscal year ending on March 30, 2019, according to India's Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority.
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