Tough actions if anyone tries to increase commodity prices: State Minister

State Minister for Commerce Ahsanul Islam Titu has said that the government will take tough actions if anyone tries to increase commodity prices during the holy month of Ramadan.

The state minister said this while addressing a function marking the inauguration of distribution of essential items by the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) in the capital on Thursday.

 “We’ve contacted with the owners of various mills and factories and with the current level of stockpile of sugar in their godowns, we hope that there will be no crisis of sugar during the ensuing Holy Month of Ramadan,” he said.

Cautioning the businesses of not making any ill attempts to make artificial crisis of commodities in the market, he said, “I’ve looked into some media reports that ill attempts are there to hike the sugar price in one or two areas, but we won’t allow the traders to do that.

The state minister said although the prices of essential items witnessed uptrend in the global market due to various reasons, but the government has still been selling essential items at subsidized prices as sugar is being sold at Taka 70.

Commerce Ministry Senior Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh, TCB Chairman Brig Gen M Ariful Hasan spoke, among others, on the occasion.