Edible oil prices hike a threat to consumers

AT a time when the prices of edible oil are reportedly decreasing in the international market, the Vegetable Oil Refiners and Banaspati Manufacturers Association has recently written a letter to the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission seeking to increase the price of bottled soybean oil by Tk 18 per liter and the price of open soybean and palm oil by Tk 13 per liter.

They said that they also need to increase the price of one liter of bottled soybean oil to 189 taka, which was 175 taka so far.

The new price of five liters of bottled soybean oil is Tk 922, which was previously Tk 852. In addition, the new price of each liter of open soybean and palm oil is Tk 169, which was Tk 157.

As the import duty exemption on edible oil expired on March 31, the price increase of edible oil in the domestic market is being discussed.

Meanwhile, Commerce Advisor Sheikh Bashiruddin held meetings with refinery owners on April 6 and 8 regarding the issue, but reportedly could not reach any decision.

According to NBR, import duty exemptions on edible oil had been granted for six months.

In this situation, NBR will increase import taxes and traders will pass the burden of that tax increase on to consumers.

It is worth mentioning that traders had earlier increased the price of bulk soybean oil by 16-17 taka per liter on the pretext of supply shortage before Ramadan.

The annual demand for edible oil in the country is 2.3 to 2.4 million tons. Of this, 250,000 tons are produced locally, while the remaining 2 to 2.1 million tons have to be imported.

If the government needs to increase revenue, it can collect more income tax from the rich.

There was talk from various quarters of increasing the income tax limit. Instead of going that route, the NBR has chosen the easy route of increasing taxes on imported goods.

In Bangladesh, the import-level customs duties and taxes are high. The interim government should re-evaluate customs and tax policies.

Those products whose price increases put more pressure on the poor consumers should be kept duty-free. We hope that the NBR and the government will prioritize the interests of consumers.