Commerce advisor sees no reason for increase in rice prices

Sheikh Bashir Uddin believes there has been “an incident of temporary hoarding”

The rice market has become "unstable" due to stockpiling despite sufficient rice at the production stage and in the government warehouses, Commerce Advisor Sheikh Bashir Uddin says.

"According to our data, there is no shortage of rice in the market, in the government reserves, and at the local production level as we are having the Aman harvesting season now,” he said.

“At the moment, we don't see any reason for the price hike in the market. I hope it comes down in a few days."

The advisor inaugurated the sales of subsidised goods by the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh, or TCB, through the new smart card [family card] at Dhaka’s Tejgaon on Wednesday.

He said that the prices of rice, especially Nazirshail and Miniket, have increased greatly at the consumer level, adding that the hike in prices at the wholesale level is much higher than at the retail level.

Although there is a good supply of new rice in the market in the Aman season, prices are still on the rise.

According to the TCB, the price of coarse rice has increased by up to Tk 4 per kg in a week. In addition, the prices of medium-quality rice have also increased by Tk 2 per kg.

Dubbing the price hike as "irrational", the commerce advisor said: "The ministry can 'liberalise' imports. When we liberalised the potato imports, the price of the staple dropped significantly. We believe there has been an incident of temporary hoarding."

Stating that several meetings have already been held on market “liberalisation”, he said: "We are taking import-centric measures to further improve the supply to the market and preparations are underway for massive imports. As a result of this import boom, we believe prices in the local market will decrease."

The advisor said there was "a lot of chaos and wickedness" over TCB cards during the tenure of the previous government.

With the introduction of smart cards, the system of paper cards has been abolished, he said, adding that a total of 6.3 million smart cards have been distributed so far. Another 3.5 to 4 million cards will be issued.

A cardholder can buy a maximum of two litres of cooking oil, two kilograms of lentils, and one kilogram of sugar.

The price of oil has been set at Tk 100 per litre, lentils at Tk 60 per kg, and sugar at Tk 70 per kg.