A rise of Tk 7 per litre has been proposed for both bottled and loose soybean oil.

The proposal was made on Sunday, October 17, at a meeting in the commerce ministry's conference room at the Secretariat on stocks, imports and pricing of essential goods.

After the meeting, commerce ministry additional secretary (IIT) A.H.M. Safiquzzaman told journalists about it.

The additional secretary said the oil traders had proposed setting the price of bottled oil at Tk 168 a litre. The Tariff Commission sat several times, analysed it and proposed Tk 162, based on September's average report. After long discussion today, the price of a litre of bottled oil was set at Tk 160, up from Tk 153.

Loose soybean oil currently costs Tk 129 a kg, and a rise of Tk 7 to Tk 136 has been proposed.

A 5-litre bottle is proposed to rise from Tk 728 to Tk 760, and palm oil from Tk 116 to Tk 119, the additional secretary said.

Safiquzzaman said the proposal will be put to the commerce secretary, and the price will be finalised and announced after talks with the minister. The oil traders will then announce it on their letterheads.

Saying the onion market had been volatile, the additional secretary said: "We gave it special focus over the past week. By Allah's mercy, we have been able to bring the onion market to a reasonably good level."

A decision on when the regulatory duty on sugar takes effect will be taken soon after an assessment, he added.

Source: Samprotik Deshkal. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.