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Stock enough to curb price spiral during Ramadan

Says Tariff Commission chairman

Star Business Report
The public and private sectors have built stocks of essential commodities higher than the projected demand for the month of Ramadan, with Bangladesh Tariff Commission (BTC) saying the stocks are adequate to curb a price spiral during the fasting days.
Stocks of key items — sugar, cooking oil, onion and chickpea — are enough to meet the increased consumption during Ramadan, said Md Mozibur Rahman, chairman of the BTC, which monitors the prices of essentials on part of the government.
He said the prices of these items should not increase during Ramadan, beginning in the third week of this month.
"The government will take action if anyone tries to hike the prices without any reason," said the commission chairman.
The present stock of sugar is six lakh tonnes, while that of cooking oil is two lakh tonnes, said the official, citing imports and local production by the government and the private sector.
The demand for the two items soars to 1.50 lakh tonnes during Ramadan from 1.04 lakh tonnes in the usual months, according to the estimates of the commission.
Of the sugar stocks, state-owned Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation holds nearly 175,000 tonnes, while Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) has 10,000 tonnes.
Some 25,000 tonnes of sugar will
be added to the existing stocks of the TCB in the next two weeks, said an official of the TCB.
"Considering the stockpile, consumers should not cause a price spiral through panic buying," said Rahman.
Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), however, expressed doubts whether the prices would remain steady.
"It's good to know that stocks are adequate. But our past experiences are not good to be hopeful,” said CAB President Qazi Faruque.
"Higher stocks will not be meaningful unless the prices remain stable. We want to see the government taking strict actions against market manipulators instead of making empty promises," he said.
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The CAB shared the concern as businesses hike the prices of various essentials such as sugar, onion, gram, cooking oil and some vegetables, cashing in on increased consumption of these items. Already, traders and processors have hiked the prices of bottled cooking oil, onion and chickpea ahead of the month, accordingtoTCB data.
But the prices of sugar have been steady over the past month influenced by a fall in the prices on the global market, increased imports from India and higher stocks with the government agencies.
BTC chairman Rahman said he is unaware of an increase in the prices of bottled cooking
oil by refiners. "We will take corrective measures if we find any inconsistency," he said.
On the spiralling prices of onion and gram, Rahman said stocks of the two items should be adequate to meet the demand in Ramadan.
According to the tariff commission, 85,373 tonnes of gram have been imported in the July-May period of the just concluded fiscal year, while local production was 9,000 tonnes.
Onion imports stood at 3.51 lakh tonnes in the July-May period of fiscal 2011-12 with domestic production being 16.20 lakh tonnes.
Other than Ramadan, the monthly demand for gram and onion is 4,500 tonnes and 1.62 lakh tonnes respectively.
During the fasting month, the demand for
gram and onion rises to 50,000 tonnes and 2.20 lakh tonnes, according to the estimates of the commission.
The BTC chairman blamed panic buying for an increase in the prices of the two items.
"Retailers hike the prices capitalising on the panic buying," he said, adding that the market monitoring teams formed by the government would remain vigilant in the market during Ramadan and take action in case of any wrongdoing.
The government has already formed 14 teams to monitor the essentials' prices in Dhaka city during Ramadan. For other divisional cities, market monitoring will remain on as well, according to Rahman.