The government has fixed the prices of rawhides of animals to be sacrificed during the ensuing Eid-ul-Azha. This time, the price of salted raw hide has been fixed at Tk 45 per square foot which is higher than last year.
The decision in this regard was taken at a virtual meeting held on Thursday with Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi in the chair. At the meeting, the minister urged the traders to apply salt to the skin immediately after the sacrifice.
Tipu Munshi said, “Considering the local and international market price of leather, demand, supply, overall situation of export and opinion of concerned traders, the price of salted cow skin has been fixed at Tk 40 to Tk 45 per square foot in Dhaka and Tk 33 to Tk 37 outside of Dhaka. The prices of salted goat skin fixed at a maximum of Tk 17 per square foot.”
The Commerce Minister said, “The country’s leather exports have increased and will increase further. The government has already given permission to export 12 million square feet of wet blue leather. More wet blue leather will be allowed to be exported. Work has started in full swing in the new leather industrial city established in Savar”.
“In order to ensure the quality of the skin, the skin should be collected and stored properly so that no hide is damaged. The government has taken adequate measures to make the public aware of this issue through TVC broadcasts and distribution of leaflets through the country’s media,” the commerce minister added.
“The price of this leather is the right of the poor. Organizations like Orphanage, Madrasah, Anjuman Mofidul Islam collect this skin. I call on all concerned to ensure fair pay to the poor. To ensure the purchase of leather, Bangladesh Bank has sanctioned a loan of about Tk 600 crore and has provided an opportunity to regularize the loan by repaying 3 percent of the defaulted loan,” said the minister.
“The supply and price of salt in the country is normal. The administration has been instructed to provide all kinds of cooperation at the field level. Hopefully, this time there will be no problem in collecting, storing the sacrificial skins and buying and selling those at fixed prices,” the minister further said.
Commerce Minister Tapan Kanti Ghosh also spoke on the occasion while Industries Secretary Jakia Sultana, Religious Affairs Ministry Secretary Dr Nurul Islam, Information and Broadcasting Secretary Md Maqbool Hossain, additional secretary of department of financial institutions of Finance Ministry Abdullah Harun Pasha,Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank AFM Naser, Additional Secretary of Local Government Department Deepak Chakraborty, President of Bangladesh Tanners’ Association Shaheen Ahmed, President of Leather and Footwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association Md Saiful Islam, President of Bangladesh Finnished Leather and Exporters Association Mohiuddin Ahmed Mahin and President of Hide and Skin Association Aftab Khan also participated virtually.
