Bangladesh
FBCCI | Rice Price FBCCI president expresses anger over rice price hike
Own Correspondent, Dhaka, June 3: Md. Jasim Uddin, the president of FBCCI, the top organization of traders, has expressed his displeasure over the increase in rice prices in the country. He has slammed the traders for this.
The FBCCI president said that businessmen are making houses in the capital's posh area Gulshan by trading rice, but again they are claiming that there are loss in their business. Just because of one or two traders, the whole business fraternity will not take responsibility.
He made the remarks at a press conference on Thursday (June 2) at the FBCCI Board Room in the capital's Motijheel on the 'import, stock, supply and price situation of daily commodities'. At that time, he said that the export of rice from Bangladesh should be stopped. At the same time, he agreed to fix the price of packaged rice.
The FBCCI president said the government has already launched a crackdown on the daily necessities market. Our team of traders is also going to the market, I will go to the market myself. We have 17 items of daily commodity. Supervision should be increased so that the price of these does not increase.
Addressing the businessmen, he said, "We have to be more sincere and humane. If you get a chance, you will increase the price whenever you want -- you have to come out of it. If there is no VAT on hand made bakery products in our country then why its price will go up. I will talk to them about why the price of a loaf of bread should go up from Tk 10 to 15. We demanded their VAT be revoked. VAT was also revoked, but why did they increase the price?"
Earlier, at the beginning of the press conference, rice traders and mill owners complained, "We are being harassed and arrested."
Responding to it, the FBCCI president said, "You will increase the price of rice in the paddy season, and the government will arrest you -- this is very normal."
At that time, he also asked the rice traders, "Why do you stockpile?" In response, some of the traders said that there was no stockpile of rice.
