MARKET DEVELOPMENT
City Traders Selling Essentials Beyond Fixed Prices
City Traders Selling Essentials Beyond Fixed Prices
12/07/2013 (Financial Express) - Most of the traders in the city's various kitchen markets were found Thursday selling some essential items beyond the prices fixed by the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) for the holy month of Ramadan.
The apex trade body at a meeting with the ministry of commerce (MoC) said the prices of essentials items, such as soybean oil, palm oil, and sugar etc, would not go up during the Ramadan due to sufficient stock and good import condition.
The FBCCI has fixed retail price of loose soybean oil at Tk 105-107 per litre, palm oil at Tk 73-75 per litre, and sugar at Tk 45.50-46 per kg for the month of fasting.
The apex trade body has given directives to the traders to display price-list of these commodities at their shops and strictly follow it.
However, on the first day of Ramadan traders at different markets in the city were selling sugar at Tk 48-50 per kg, loose soybean oil at Tk 108-110 per litre, and palm oil at Tk 76-78 per litre.
Subsequently, consumers started feeling the pinch of high prices of essentials from the very beginning of Ramadan. They called upon the government to strengthen market monitoring drive to ensure that unscrupulous traders cannot raise the prices whimsically.
Retailers said they had to purchase commodities at high prices from the wholesalers, so that they are bound to sell those at high rates to the customers.
"We had to purchase commodities at high prices from the wholesalers," said a retailer at AGB Colony kitchen market.
However, a trader at Moulvibazar in the capital on the day said, "We sold commodities at reasonable prices, but the retailers have increased their prices to earn some extra profit."
"We are monitoring the matter. If the traders violate the directives, we will ask the authorities concerned to take necessary actions against them," FBCCI first vice-president Md Helal Uddin told the FE.
The apex trade body at a meeting with the ministry of commerce (MoC) said the prices of essentials items, such as soybean oil, palm oil, and sugar etc, would not go up during the Ramadan due to sufficient stock and good import condition.
The FBCCI has fixed retail price of loose soybean oil at Tk 105-107 per litre, palm oil at Tk 73-75 per litre, and sugar at Tk 45.50-46 per kg for the month of fasting.
The apex trade body has given directives to the traders to display price-list of these commodities at their shops and strictly follow it.
However, on the first day of Ramadan traders at different markets in the city were selling sugar at Tk 48-50 per kg, loose soybean oil at Tk 108-110 per litre, and palm oil at Tk 76-78 per litre.
Subsequently, consumers started feeling the pinch of high prices of essentials from the very beginning of Ramadan. They called upon the government to strengthen market monitoring drive to ensure that unscrupulous traders cannot raise the prices whimsically.
Retailers said they had to purchase commodities at high prices from the wholesalers, so that they are bound to sell those at high rates to the customers.
"We had to purchase commodities at high prices from the wholesalers," said a retailer at AGB Colony kitchen market.
However, a trader at Moulvibazar in the capital on the day said, "We sold commodities at reasonable prices, but the retailers have increased their prices to earn some extra profit."
"We are monitoring the matter. If the traders violate the directives, we will ask the authorities concerned to take necessary actions against them," FBCCI first vice-president Md Helal Uddin told the FE.