Staff Correspondent:
The government wants to keep the prices of daily necessities affordable in the country around the upcoming month of Ramadan. In this regard, the relevant ministries are conducting coordinated activities. Traders also gave a message of relief about consumer goods. They say that enough sugar, edible oil, chickpeas, lentils and dates have been imported in view of Ramadan. If everything goes well, people will not have to suffer with consumer goods in the upcoming Ramadan. However, consumers remain worried about market syndicates and hoarders who create artificial crisis of daily commodities. Khatunganj, the second largest market for consumer goods in the country, has increased the supply of consumer goods around Ramadan. Prices of some products have also started to come down. Traders say that the price of consumer goods is not likely to increase during Ramadan. However, consumer rights organizations say that the government needs strict monitoring to keep prices under control. Road extortion should be stopped in the transportation of goods. According to the Chittagong Customs sources, during the seven months and 12 days of the current fiscal year (2023-24) (from July 1, 2023 to February 12, 2024), 94 thousand 757 tons of chickpeas, 75 thousand 643 tons of peas, 75 thousand 643 tons of lentils, and 75 thousand 643 tons of lentils were cleared through Chittagong port. 2 lakh 21 thousand 696 tons, soybean oil 3 lakh 49 thousand 761 tons, palm oil 10 lakh 71 thousand 159 tons and crude sugar (raw sugar) 9 lakh 1 thousand 120 tons were released. 14 thousand 121 tons of fresh dates were imported and 908 tons of dried dates were imported. Besides, traders of Chittagong are importing chickpeas and lentils from India through the land port. Among the imported consumer goods, 79 thousand 885 tons of chickpeas, 1 thousand 143 tons of peas, 76 thousand 661 tons of lentils, 89 thousand 906 tons of soybean oil, 19 thousand 403 tons of palm oil were released in the 43 days from January 1 to February 12 this year. tonnes, raw sugar (raw sugar) 1 lakh 39 thousand 532 tonnes, fresh dates 5 thousand 229 tonnes and dried dates 84 tonnes. It has been officially announced that there is sufficient import and stock of consumer goods for Ramadan this year. If that is the case then the price of goods should not increase during Ramadan. Strict government monitoring is needed to control prices. If that is the case, the consumers will get benefit. Talking to the traders of Khatunganj, it is known that due to the dollar crisis, the price of products has increased compared to the previous year. Still, importers open enough LCs (letters of credit) under various government initiatives to keep the supply chain of consumer goods running during Ramadan. Especially, the government has taken early steps to keep the prices of consumer goods normal. Bangladesh Bank has made it possible to import products that are in high demand during Ramadan through 90-day suppliers or buyers credit. As a result, the old importers now have the opportunity to import the rest of the products. But in most cases of LC opening importers import Ramadan consumables even with minimum payment. Importers will get this special benefit till March 31 this year. The National Board of Revenue (NBR) announced on February 8 to reduce the duty on rice, oil, sugar and dates ahead of Ramadan. The company issued a separate notification in this regard. As per notification issued by NBR, import duty on import of parboiled and parboiled rice has been completely withdrawn. At the same time, the regulatory duty (regulatory duty) on the import of these rice has been reduced from 25 to 5 percent. Rice importers will get this facility till May 15 this year. On the other hand, the import duty on the import of unrefined sugar has been reduced to Tk 1,000 per ton, which was Tk 1,500 per ton earlier. And on the import of refined sugar, the import duty has been reduced to two thousand taka per ton, which was earlier three thousand taka. This facility of duty exemption will remain in force till March 31. In addition, value added tax (VAT) at the production and business level of refined soybean and palm oil has been completely withdrawn. In this, no VAT has to be paid till April 15 at the production and trading level of refined soybean and palm oil in the country. Apart from this, the 15% VAT at the import level has been reduced to 10% for the import of refined and unrefined soybean oil and palm oil from abroad. That means 5 percent VAT has been reduced at the import level of soybeans and palm oil. Similarly, the import duty on import of dates has been reduced from 10 percent to 15 percent. Importers will get this facility till March 30. In 43 days, 79 thousand 885 tons of chickpeas, 1 thousand 143 tons of peas, 76 thousand 661 tons of lentils, 89 thousand 906 tons of soybean oil, 1 lakh 19 thousand 403 tons of palm oil, 1 lakh 39 thousand tons of raw sugar were released at the port. 532 tons, fresh dates 5 thousand 229 tons and dried dates 84 tons have been released Many traders say that the impact of reducing import duty has not yet reached the wholesale market. Consumers can get this benefit especially in oil and sugar if the government fixes the price. The traders of Khatunganj said that there is more demand for chickpeas during Ramadan. According to the importers, the annual demand of chickpeas is around 2 lakh to 250 lakh tonnes. Among them, the demand is more than 70 thousand tons in Ramadan alone. Quality and good looking Australian chickpeas are always in high demand in Bangladesh. But there is also supply of Indian gram in the market. General Secretary of Chaktai-Khatunganj Artaddar General Traders Welfare Association Alhaj Md. Mohiuddin said, now the price of chickpeas has started to decrease in Khatunganj. 150-200 rupees per mana has decreased in last one month. Chickpea which used to be sold at Tk 36 per kg is now selling at Tk 34-35. There is plenty of chickpea stock in the market. The price of peas has also decreased by Tk 100-150 per maund. These peas are imported from Russia and Ukraine. He said that the Indian thin lentil in the market is 128 Tk and the Australian medium lentil is Tk.

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