Staff Reporter:
Bangladesh Awami League will give special importance over controlling the prices of daily essen-tials in its manifesto for the upcoming general election, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said yes-terday.
The minister was replying at the grand finale and award distribution ceremony of the Shadow Par-liament on Consumer Rights Protection, a joint initiative of the National Directorate of Consumer Rights Protection and Debate for Democracy at the Bangladesh Film Development Corporation-BFDC in the capital as the chief guest.
The Commerce Minister said Awami League does politics for the welfare of the people of the country. The government has continued its efforts to keep commodity prices at a tolerable level. “We may not control 100% in the global context but we have success compared to many countries of the world,” he added.
Considering the low-income people, the government is conducting the sale of daily necessities at low prices through various programs including TCB on the instructions of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
He pointed out that in the context of global instability including Russia-Ukraine war after Covid-19, the prices of products have increased abnormally in different countries of the world, which has also affected our country.
Confessing the suffering of the people due to the price-hike, Tipu Munshi emphasized the joint role of the public and private sector in controlling the prices of commodities.
In reply to a question regarding meat import, the commerce minister said that the government has no plan to import meat considering the interests of local farmers.
“If meat is imported, it is possible to feed the people of the country for 400-450 taka. But we have always thought of the farmers of the country to be self-sufficient,” he informed.
In response to another question, Tipu Munshi said that after the price of eggs was fixed, the mar-ket did not come under control. But when the decision was taken to allow the import, each dozen was reduced by Tk 20-30 and same for the potatoes.
So, it is clear that the country has sufficient stock of the product. But some unscrupulous traders are hoarding the products for high profits, Tipu Munshi said.
Regarding high prices of sugar, he said, the goods to be imported depend on the international mar-ket or the value of the dollar. We cannot fix the prices on them even if we want to. What we can do is to reduce tariffs. And we did it, but due to the surge in the dollar price, there was no positive effect on the market and consumers did not get the benefit, he added.
Chairman of Debate for Democracy Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury Kiran presided over the function, while AHM Shafiquzzaman, director general of the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Pro-tection (DNCRP) spoke as a special guest.
Eden Women’s College and Comilla Victoria College contested the final and Comilla Victoria Col-lege clinched the title.
