Acknowledging the recent rising trend in the prices of essentials like onion and ginger, commerce minister Tipu Munshi has said the government is taking steps to help stabilise the commodity market.
"We are aware that there has been a tendency of rise in the prices of certain commodities including onion and ginger ahead of Eid-ul-Azha," he added.
The minister also expressed the hope that the prices would come down soon.
"If needed, the government will sell onion through Trading Corporation of Bangladesh to keep the price of perishable item under control," he said while addressing a press conference held at his secretariat office in the city on Tuesday.
The conference was organized to announce the export performance for the just-concluded fiscal year.
His comments came against the backdrop of high prices of some essentials including onion. Onion is being sold at Tk 50-55 per kg while imported one at Tk 45 per kg.
Ginger prices ranged between Tk 180 and Tk 200 per kg.
Explaining the possible reason behind the price hike of onion, the minister said import from India has slowed down while rain has put a negative impact on the supply chain of onion.
He, however, expressed the hope that the price would be brought under control. "We will monitor the market to see whether the prices come down or not. And if necessary, we will sell onion through Trading Corporation of Bangladesh."
He also said the government is scrutinizing the information whether India has withdrawn its 10 per cent incentive on onion export. "If it happens, it might have an impact."
The ministry has also asked the authority concerned in Satkhira and Dinajpur to monitor the price at the borders, Mr Munshi said.
Regarding export performance, he said export earnings have surpassed the target in the fiscal year 2018-19.
The government has set a target of $ 60 billion export earnings by 2021 out of which $50 billion has been targeted to achieve through readymade garment exports, he said.
"We are moving forward to the target and hopeful of achieving it. We need to achieve 15 per cent annual growth in the current fiscal year compared to that of last fiscal year."
Terming the flow of work orders for RMG 'positive', he said the situation will improve further.
The government is working to expand and diversify the export basket, the minister said, adding that the government is planning to give permission for exporting 0.2 million tonnes of rice.
The government is also scrutinizing the issue of exporting tea after meeting local demand, he said.
Exports of goods and service fetched US$ 46.37 billion in the fiscal year 2018-19 which was 13.06 per cent higher than that of $41 billion export earnings in FY 2017-18.
Overall export earnings surpassed the target set for the fiscal by 5.39 per cent, commerce secretary Md Mofizul Islam informed the briefing.
Export earnings from goods stood at $40.54 billion, recording a 10.55 per cent growth over that of $36.67 billion in the previous fiscal.
Earnings from service sector reached $5.83 billion which was 32.34 per cent higher than that of $ 4.34 billion in FY 2017-18.
Responding to a question, the minister said the target for the current fiscal year would be announced shortly after scrutinizing the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).
EPB in a recent meeting has proposed setting a US$ 44.40 billion goods export target for fiscal year (FY) 2019-20 while more than 84 per cent or $37.42 billion of proposed export earnings is expected to come from the RMG sector.
The EPB has also projected an additional $6.60 billion in earnings from services export, raising the next FY's aggregate target to $51.0 billion.
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