May 10, 2023
DHAKA – The government will procure 12,500 tonnes of sugar and 1.10 crore litres of soybean oil from foreign markets so that low-income groups in Bangladesh can buy the commodities at subsidised rates, according to Sayeed Mahbub Khan, additional secretary of the Cabinet Division.
The Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) will procure the sugar from a local agent of Smart Matrix Pte Limited in Singapore while the soybean oil will come from Guben Traders Private Limited in India.
The move comes as global inflationary pressure stemming from global crises, namely the Russia-Ukraine war, has driven up domestic prices of edible oil and sugar.
A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) yesterday approved separate proposals for procuring the essential food items with Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal in chair.
The price of each kilogramme (kg) sugar will be Tk 82.94 and each litre of soybean oil will be Tk 146.10, Khan told reporters after the meeting.
Sugar prices recently rose to a record high at wholesale and retail markets in Dhaka and Chattogram due to an ongoing supply crunch.
The sweetener is currently selling for Tk 135 to Tk 142 per kg even though the government had set the price at Tk 104 about one month back.
Sugar went for between Tk 112 and Tk 115 in April, according to TCB data.
The CCGP meeting also approved a proposal for the Armed Forces Division to procure three crore blank smart cards from Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory Limited under its “Identification System for Enhancing Access to Services (2nd Phase)” project at a cost of Tk 406.50 crore.
A proposal for procuring essential medicine and laboratory equipment from Essential Drugs Company Limited and the United Nations Office for Project Services under an initiative of the Department of Health Services got approval as well.
Meanwhile, five of eight proposals from the Roads and Highways Department were approved.