Staff Reporter:
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman said on Saturday that no essential goods recorded price increases in the market following the presentation of the national budget, marking what he described as a rare occurrence in recent years.
He made the remarks in the evening while speaking as the chief guest at a public rally organised by the BNP at the Chakaria Municipal Bus Terminal in Cox’s Bazar.
“Since the budget announcement, conscious citizens have appreciated it. This is the first time in years that prices of goods have not increased after the budget. Rather, prices of daily essentials have come down,” he said.
He further claimed that media reports had previously shown a consistent pattern of price hikes following budget announcements each year.
Referring to infrastructure development plans, the Prime Minister announced that the Chattogram–Cox’s Bazar highway would be upgraded to a four-lane or six-lane road.
He said the highway, given the region’s importance due to tourism, the Matarbari deep-sea port and its strategic location, should have been upgraded much earlier.
“I travelled on this road 25 years ago and saw its condition then. Unfortunately, it remains largely unchanged,” he said, adding that work to expand the highway would begin soon.
He also highlighted concerns over salt farmers in the coastal region, saying they had long been deprived of fair prices for their produce.
“We have learned that salt farmers are not getting fair prices for their production. We will ensure fair pricing so that the salt industry is protected and farmers become financially self-reliant,” he said.
The BNP Chairman also said that all taxes on healthcare services had been removed in the proposed budget in order to reduce medical costs.
However, he alleged that certain groups are opposing the budget despite its public welfare focus.
Turning to his party’s electoral commitments, he said the BNP has already begun work on introducing family cards, farmer cards and health cards aimed at supporting farmers, workers and general citizens.
He said the programme will initially cover 8,000 to 10,000 families in each upazila within a year.
The rally was chaired by Chakaria Upazila BNP President Enamul Haque and moderated by General Secretary M Mobarak Ali and Chakaria Municipality BNP General Secretary M Abdur Rahim.
Cox’s Bazar-1 MP and Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed attended the event as special guest, along with the Prime Minister’s spouse Dr Zubaida Rahman, several cabinet members, MPs, and senior leaders from the party’s divisional, district and upazila levels.
