The price of soybean oil has risen by Tk 8 per litre. The price will be Tk 175 per litre as per the new rate. The price of loose soybean oil has risen to Tk 157 from Tk 149.
Besides, the price of loose palm oil also has increased to Tk 157 from Tk 149 while the price of five litre soybean oil bottles has been fixed at Tk 860, which was Tk 818.
Commerce adviser Sheikh Bashir Uddin announced the new rate following a meeting with the edible oil dealers at the secretariat on Monday. The new prices will be in effect from Tuesday.
Asked whether the decision to raise the price would help tackle the crisis or whether there was any plan for market monitoring, the commerce adviser said the stakeholders in the industry have given word that they will start distribution at the new rate from today, Monday.
He said, “I have fixed the price on the basis of reality considering everything. So we expect the trend of setting prices based on assumptions will stop from today.”
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Vegetable Oil Refiners and Vanashpati Manufacturer Association said in a press release, “The price of edible oil has been readjusted in consultation with the commerce ministry as the price has increased in the global market.”
In response to the question as to whether the crisis was artificially mediated to raise the price, the commerce adviser said, “I don’t know about it.”