Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi in the Parliament today (September 1, 2022) claimed that prices of daily essentials are at a tolerable level. 

In response to a question from Jatiya Party MP from Kishoreganj, Mujibul Huq, Tipu Munshi said that several steps have been taken to keep prices of essentials within the reach of the masses.

In response to Awami League MP, elected from Brahmanbaria, Ebadul Karim's question, the Commerce Minister said that Bangladesh exported goods to 203 countries in the financial year 2021-22. 

Out of these, Bangladesh has trade deficit with 91 countries and trade balance with 112 countries is in favour of Bangladesh. 

In the 2021-22 financial year, exports are worth 60, 971.26 million dollars and imports worth 82, 500 million dollars. 

That means the trade deficit in the financial year 2021-22 is 21, 528.74 million US dollars.

In response to Awami League MP elected from Dhaka Benazir Ahmed, the Minister said that trade deficit with SAARC countries in the financial year 2021-22 is 11, 986.98 million US dollars. 

In the 2021-22 financial year, trade deficit with China is 19,353.37 million US dollars. 

The minister said that some 8930 products (98 percent) have received duty-free, quota-free access to the Chinese market due to the government's efforts from today.

Also read: Bangladesh’s trade deficit widens to over $27bn in 10 months

As a result, exports to China will increase and the trade deficit will decrease, he said.

In response to AL MP elected from Bhola Ali Azam, Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder said that currently (as of August 30, 2022) the country has 19,50,531 metric tons of food grains. 

Among them are 17,33,300 metric tons of rice and 1,41,118 metric tons of wheat.

He said that to import wheat from Russia and rice from India, Myanmar and Vietnam, the government is going for G2G system.

In response to another question from the same MP, the food minister said that the total food grain consumption of 16.52 crore people of the country is 233.35 lakh metric tons. 

Out of this, 221.41 lakh metric tons are rice and 11.94 lakh metric tons of wheat. 

In the financial year 2021-22, the production of food grains was 389.29 lakh metric tons, Which is more than the demand.

Stating that there is no possibility of food crisis in the country, the minister said that according to the National Food and Nutrition Security Policy, 10.5 million metric tons of foodgrains are supposed to be kept in safety stock, but currently there is more stock than this.

In response to Jatiya Party MP elected from Pirojpur Rustam Ali Faraji, the Food Minister said that in the financial year 2021-22, 15,44,145.8 metric tons of rice, 19,95,539.6 metric tons of edible oil, 699,129.3 metric tons of onions and 54,237.6 metric tons of garlic have been imported.

In response to Jatiya Party MP elected from Rangpur Mashiur Rahman Ranga, the minister said that in the financial year 2021-22, 67,02,688.5 metric tons of wheat, 27,77,468.8 metric tons of oilseeds, 27,08,049 metric tons of sugar, 3,63,107.5 metric tons of spices, 12,48,392.7 metric tons of pulses, 12,36,131.4 metric tons of fruits, 1,56,246.2 metric tons of dairy products have been imported.

In response to a question of AL MP from reserved seats for woman Begum Nazma Akhtar, Expatriates Welfare Minister Imran Ahmed said that according to the information of the Expatriate Welfare Desk, 4,08,408 workers have returned from abroad in 2020 during the pandemic. Besides, in 2021 some 34, 494 workers have returned without pass till May.

Also read: Bangladesh’s trade deficit rose to $30.81 billion in 11 months

In response to AL MP elected from Bhola Nurunnabi Chowdhury, the Minister of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment said that some 73,19,316 workers have been sent to different countries from the financial year 2008-2009 to the financial year 2020-21. 

According to the minister, the highest number of people went in the financial year 2016-17 which is 8,93,739 people. 

The lowest number is 2,71,445 people in the financial year 2020-21.