No decision reached yet on cooking oil price hike

The commerce secretary says the traders’ proposed price hike exceeds international levels

The government and the businesses have failed to decide on mill owners' proposals to raise cooking oil prices by Tk 10 per litre.

The Ministry of Commerce officials sat with the Bangladesh Vegetable Oil Refiners and Vanaspati Manufacturers Association at the Secretariat on Monday to decide on the price hike of cooking oil.

A few days ago, the Vanaspati Manufacturers Association had proposed to increase the prices of soybean and palm oil by Tk 10 per litre, citing an increase in the cost of raw materials in the international market.

On Apr 13, the ministry had fixed the price of soybean oil at Tk 189 per litre and the price of palm oil at Tk 169 per litre.

After the meeting, Commerce Secretary Mahbubur Rahman said: “The price hike proposal made by the traders is much higher than in the international market. We are reviewing it and will have more discussions before deciding on the price.”

A company representative, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission proposed to raise the price by about Tk 4, but the ministry wants it slightly lower. No decision was made in the meeting.