Despite the fall in the price of soybean oil in the global market, Bangladesh is not getting the benefit due to the increase in the dollar price in the domestic market.
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi made the remark while responding to questions from reporters after the cabinet meeting at the Secretariat in the capital on Thursday.
The commerce minister said, “The price of edible oil has decreased in the world market. But the price of dollar has increased in our country. So, the benefit that we are supposed to get is not available. Still the Tariff Commission will check the whole matter.”
When asked if the price of soybean oil will be adjusted, the commerce minister said, “They (tariff commission) will meet and decide soon. Because the businessmen have submitted a demand to increase price of soyabean oil by Tk 20 per litre, it will be discussed whether it is justified or not. The tariff commission will meet within a week.”
When asked about the increase in the price of goods in the capital on the pretext of increasing the cost of transportation, he said, “This will not be done by the Ministry of Commerce. The Ministry of Transport is deciding how much to increase. There is further discussion as to exactly how much it should be.”
The price of fuel oil has been fixed in coordination with neighboring countries, he said, adding that still the government subsidizes Tk 8 per litre of diesel.
Meanwhile, the price of the US dollar, the most used currency in international transactions, is rapidly rising due to higher import payments.
During the crisis, we have been forced to purchase dollar at the rate of Tk 120 on Thursday, which is around Tk 25 more than the fixed rate of the Central Bank.
On July 27, the price of the dollar rose to Tk 112 in the open market. After that, after monitoring by the central bank, it decreased a little bit and settled at Tk 108 for a few days.
But from this week, the upward trend started again. On Monday, the dollar was sold at Tk 115.60 in the open market.
However, the Bangladesh Bank has fixed at Tk 95 per US dollar in the inter-bank forex market on Thursday.
