Govt to import onion unless price comes down soon: Tipu Munshi

Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi has categorically said that his government will import onion if the price of the necessary cooking item does not come down immediately.

“We are observing the overall situation. We will import onion if the price does not come by one or two days,” the commerce minister said while talking to reporters at his residence in Shalban area of Rangpur city on Friday.

The commerce minister expressed his government's willingness when per kilogram of onion was being sold at Tk 80 to Tk 90 at different kitchen markets in the capital Dhaka, reports the Bangla daily Prothom Alao.

Calling upon people from different quarters including traders to work together amid the global crisis, the commerce minister said though the government has fixed the sugar price, it has not yet had an impact in the market.

is going on over the prices of onion and sugar in the country and the situation will be controlled immediately, Munshi said.

About the sugar price, the commerce minister said a group of unscrupulous traders is taking advantage of the global fluctuations in sugar price, but the effort is underway to implement the government-fixed price in the market.

The prices of the imported items went up as the exchange rate of dollars increased globally, he said, calling up on the people to match with the evolving situation.

While talking to reporters at her secretariat office in Dhaka on May 14, Agriculture Secretary Wahida Akhter, said this year onion production in the country has been more than 34 lakh tonnes.

Additionally, there are 18.30 lakh tonnes of onions in stock, she said, adding that there is no reason behind the increase in onion price this time.

The Ministry of Agriculture is always monitoring the onion market and if the price continues to increase, onion import will be considered soon, she said.

The government has fixed unpackaged sugar price at Tk 120 per kilogram and packaged sugar at Tk 125 per kilogram following the recommendation of the BTTC.

But per kilogram of unpackaged sugar is now being sold at Tk 140 while packaged sugar is being sold at Tk 150 per kilogram in the capital Dhaka.