The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

Commerce Adviser Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman yesterday admitted that unusual price hike of essentials has become the matter of concern as people got panicked due to the same.

"We have to free the society from the panic of unusual price hike of essential commodities," apparently frustrated adviser Dr Rahman told newsmen after a consultation meeting with government high officials.

He said the Government is working to keep the price of essentials within the reach of common people. To this effect a market-monitoring agency will be formed soon which will be coordinated by commerce adviser himself.

National Board of Revenue chairman Mohammad Abdul Mazid, Bangladesh Bank deputy governor Ziaul Hassan Siddiqui, Bangladesh Rifles Director general Maj Gen Shakil Ahmed and senior officials concerned were present at the meeting.

Dr Rahman said effort is on to keep the price of essential at logical level.

It became an institutional challenge to keep the commodity price under control, he said.

He said the prices of essentials would, of course, rise in the local market consistent with the prices in international market, but the prices should not go up irrationally. "The recent price-hike of soybean oil has been too much."

He also expressed dissatisfaction about the "irrational" increase in the price of Soyabean oil imported one month before.

Soyabean oil is now selling at Tk 110 per litre as compared to a range between Tk 97 and Tk 101 as per the Commerce Ministry market report taken on February 13.

"We want to control such irrational price… the price-hike should be rational," the Commerce Adviser said.

The government, he added, would try to take a move to rationalise the prices of nine essential items in the "core food basket" through discussion with the importers and traders as they convened the Monday's meeting for the purpose.