Commerce Adviser Sk Bashir Uddin on Tuesday said that the government is trying to resist further declines in potato and egg prices to avoid hurting farmers, underscoring a policy push to balance producer viability with consumer affordability.
Speaking at a press conference at the Ministry of Commerce in the afternoon, he said prices of potatoes and eggs in the local market are currently at a ‘normal’ level and the overall market situation remains stable ahead of Ramadan.
“The market is now more stable compared to other times. Compared to last Ramadan, prices of essential commodities are expected to be lower in the upcoming Ramadan,” he said.
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Claiming there is no shortage or disorder in the market, the adviser said discipline has returned to the market as a result of various initiatives taken by the Ministry of Commerce. “We have been saying repeatedly, and we are saying it again, that the upcoming Ramadan will be better than the previous one.”
Referring specifically to potato and egg prices, Bashir said he does not want prices to decline further. “Eggs are selling at Tk 120 per dozen and potatoes at Tk 30 per kg. If prices fall below this level, farmers will be affected.”
To protect small-scale poultry farmers, he stressed the need to fix egg prices in line with feed costs. “Prices must be determined after considering all relevant factors.”
Replying to a question on alleged syndicates in the meat market, the adviser said the government deliberately refrained from importing beef to reduce prices, as such a move would have harmed local cattle farmers.
“We could have imported meat from Brazil at half the current price if we wanted to. But the government chose not to do so, keeping farmers’ interests in mind,” he said, adding that while some corporate dominance exists in the egg market, no such control is evident in the meat sector.
He also noted that there has never been a supply shortage in the egg market. “When egg prices rose to Tk 180 per dozen, the Ministry of Commerce approved the import of 290 million eggs. However, only 1.1 million eggs were actually imported—an amount that can meet national demand for just 10 to 15 minutes, given a daily demand of around 50 million eggs.”
On his last working day, Bashir acknowledged that there were shortcomings but said there was no lack of effort in controlling the market.
“There is no visible crisis in the market. Overall, the prices of eggs, potatoes, rice, pulses, sugar and edible oil are at a tolerable level,” he said, adding that monitoring and investigations into edible oil prices are continuing regularly.
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