Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi on Monday said there is adequate stock of onion in the country and there is no reason to panic over it.

“The supply of onions is normal as we’ve some 5 lakh mts in stock. Besides, onions are being imported from India and Myanmar,” he said while speaking at a meeting over keeping the stock, supply, import and price situation of the commodities stable held at the Secretariat.

The Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) is selling onions at Tk 30 per kg through trucks and new onions will reach the markets after a month, said Tipu.

Also read: Onion price will cool down within 15-20 days: Agriculture Minister

The Commerce Ministry and National Consumer Rights Protection are monitoring the markets regularly, he said.

Tipu also urged the traders to run their business with honesty and sincerity.

Mentioning that the government has taken necessary steps to keep the onion price stable, the minister said action will be taken if anyone found involved in raising the price of onion creating an artificial crisis.

Also read: Price hike in Bangladesh: Unseen sufferings of shy middle class

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Commerce has urged the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to withdraw customs duty on onion import, aiming to keep its price stable in the market.

The ministry also urged the NBR to slash import duties on crude soybean oil, palm oil and sugar to cool the overheated domestic market.

Price volatilities in 2019, 2020

Bangladesh saw a record hike in onion price after India had banned onion export on September 14 last year.

The abrupt move forced the country to import the item from various other suppliers to meet the demand.

The country’s annual demand for the popular kitchen item ranges between 2.2 and 2.5 million tonnes.

Commerce ministry figures show that the amount of onion imported was hardly 0.4 million tonnes in FY09 but reached 1.1 million tonnes in recent years.

The government took prompt steps to import the kitchen staple to cool down the market and sell it through its trading arm Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).

Bangladesh also witnessed a record hike in onion prices after India banned its export on September 29, in 2019.

Onions witnessed a 557.8 percent year-on-year rise, TCB said. The record jump was made in only two months after the Indian export ban. Each kg of the bulb cost about Tk 30 before the ban.