Traders are not angels; sugar price will go down: Tipu Munshi

Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said he has urged the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to lessen duty on imported sugar as its price began running away in the last couple of months.

He said a coordination committee will be formed soon to watch the commodity market. Also, a crisis cell will be opened in Bangladesh Bank to deal with emergency imports, he added.

Munshi said this during a briefing after the meeting of the “Trade Support Advisory Committee” on all matters related to import-export, in his office at the Secretariat, on Sunday.

The price of sugar was set last October at Tk 90 per kilogram but it is being sold at Tk 120 a kg now.

Munshi said he is sure about one thing that the traders are not angels.  

“We just determine what the prices should be. Still, I see that traders have been taking advantage of sugar sales here and there. But our papers say there is a lot of sugar, even in the import pipeline You see our consumer rights are being compromised. Now we are thinking whether…other than monetary fine, if we can send them to jail,” he said.

He said the price of sugar will come down. “Arrangements are being made so that the common people can get sugar at a lower price.”

When asked about what the Ministry of Commerce can and cannot do, the Minister said they have been trying their best to cool down the price. “I don’t care who said what. What I consider is what should be the price and it is being set. And. I cannot deny that the matter is a technical one.”

He said that those who produce sugar need regular gas supply. “We all know there is a problem somewhere. Everything has been discussed today. In order to have a better look, we thought that a coordination committee needed to be formed with certain guidelines,” he pointed out.

The minister said this committee will be formed very soon. Besides, he has asked Bangladesh Bank if they can open a crisis cell. This cell will see where the problem is. “Because we are noticing more propaganda than problems.”

He said, as per media report, one hundred LCs have been closed. Bangladesh Bank also admitted this. There are thousands of LCs being opened every day in this country. The reason these 100 LCs were closed was that each one was overvalued.