The country has sufficient stocks of onions, yet the market for this volatile item is unstable. The commerce ministry fears the market for this essential item may stay fragile for the next month. Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh told journalists of this concern on Monday after a meeting at the ministry's conference room at the Secretariat, held to keep the stock, supply, import and price situation of essential goods normal and stable. Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi joined the meeting online.

The commerce secretary said: "We have enough onion stocks. Onion production is low from September to November. New onions will come to market in mid or late November, and prices will fall naturally then. Before that, prices may stay high for a month." He said the onion market would not get much worse, but because of the production situation and rising onion prices in India it would be fragile for the next month. "Our effort will be to make sure prices are reflected reasonably and traders cannot make excessive profits."

The commerce secretary said letters have been sent to district administrations to monitor markets and watch whether prices are being pushed too high. Efforts are also being made to keep the situation bearable. The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has already been asked to withdraw the duty on onions. "We hope for a positive result on this within a day or two," he said.

At the start of the meeting, AHM Safiquzzaman, additional secretary of the commerce ministry, presented a comparison of international market prices and the situation in Bangladesh for onions, edible oil, sugar and lentils. Joining online, the commerce minister told journalists that the country has about 5 lakh tonnes of onions in stock, so there is no reason to panic, and imports from India and Myanmar are continuing.

He said the commerce ministry has stepped up market drives, and the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection and the administration have increased field-level market monitoring. The government has taken all measures to keep onion supply, stocks and prices normal, and will take tough action if anyone manipulates onions or creates an artificial crisis.

The commerce ministry said the NBR has been asked to make special arrangements for quick release of onions at ports. The chairman of the land port authority has been asked to ensure that trucks carrying onions in border areas do not get jammed, and the agriculture department has been told to issue onion import permits quickly.

The ministry said that to control the onion market, TCB is selling onions on the open market at Tk 30 a kg. Every day, 400 to 1,000 kg of onions are being sold from 400 trucks across the country.

Source: Ittefaq. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.