The government has adequate stock of essential commodities to deal with the situation arising from coronavirus. At the same time, huge quantities of products are in import pipeline which will help keep supply and prices of essentials normal during the holy Ramadan, commerce ministry sources said.
However, if any quarter showing cause of coronavirus, raises prices of commodities, they will be brought under severe punishment. In order to keep the prices of the products stable, the government has already deployed 11 teams. These are - commerce ministry's monitoring cell, RAB mobile court, home ministry, food ministry, agriculture ministry, Directorate of National Consumers' Right Protection, Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), Department of Agricultural Marketing, Safe Food Authority, City Corporation and law enforcement agencies monitoring team. In addition, there will also be surveillance of multiple intelligence agencies in the commodity markets.
Commerce ministry secretary MD Jafar Uddin told media that "We do not have any shortage of commodities. Supply will also remain normal as per demand. As per our preparations, we have enough reserve of commodities for days to come". "I hope, coronavirus impact will not increase the price of commodities. There is nothing to be panicked and consumers should refrain from buying additional products, as there is no food shortage in the country", he added.
However, traders will be subjected to punishment if they resort to any strategy to increase the prices of the products, he warned. The commerce ministry gave a letter to the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission on February 16 regarding the demand, supply, import and supply situation of the required products in the country. According to the letter, the tariff commission prepared a report on the demand, stock, import situation and supply of the products.
According to the report, annual sugar demand is 18 lakh tonnes in the country. Monthly sugar demand is 1.35 lakh tonnes which jumps to 3 lakh tonnes during Ramadan. Till now 62,000 tonnes of sugar have been produced and from February 2019 to January this year, 18.75 lakh tonnes sugar were imported. As per the estimate, the country has additional 1.37 lakh tonnes sugar in stock.
Likewise, annual edible oil demand is 20 lakh tonnes, monthly demand is 1.50 lakh tonnes which increases to 3.50 lakh tonnes during Ramadan. The country locally produces 2.17 lakh tonnesedible oil annually and from February 2019 to January this year, 21.58 lakh tonneswere imported. That means, the country has additional stock of 4.75 lakh tonnes of edible oil.
As per the report, annual lentils demand is 5 lakh tonnes, now the country has additional stock of 42000 tonnes of lentils. Annual ginger demand is 3 lakh tonnes, now the country has additional stock of 18,000 tonnes of ginger. The country also has additional stock of 2000 tonnes of garlic, additional 1.43 lakh tonnes of onion and 68,000 tonnes of gram.
In addition, a commerce ministry latest update (till March 15) showed that, the total food grains reserve at the government warehouses is 17.51 lakh tonnes. Of this, rice is 14.29 lakh tonnes and wheat 3.22 lakh tonnes. The food ministry is also saying the country has satisfactory reserve of food grains.
Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) President Ghulam Rahman said, "There are some reasons which increase the prices of commodities. Among them, lack of supply against demand and artificial crisis are two major factors. The government should have strict surveillance so that none can take any chance to apply these factors."
