TDS Desk:

Adviser to the interim government on the Ministries of Finance and Commerce Dr Salehuddin Ahmed has sought support from the country’s business community to keep the supply chain of essentials like edible oil and sugar operative and normal.

“In our country, there is a vast consumption of edible oil and sugar among all the essential items and the present government wants to keep the supply chain of such items operative and normal and also to reach those to common people at rational prices. We want the support of businessmen in this regard,” he said.

The Commerce Adviser said this when the owners and representatives of the country’s six major edible oil and sugar refiners met him at his Economic Relations Division (ERD) office in the capital on Tuesday, said a Commerce Ministry press release on Wednesday.

Mentioning that steps would be taken to facilitate opening up letters of credit (LCs) and reducing LC margin, he said prices of commodities could not be increased by any means. “We’ll have to minimise bad practices in trade and commerce,” he added.

The businessmen who were present at the meeting mentioned that they have to pay Tk42 as VAT and other taxes per kilogram of sugar, which is totally unjustified and not in practice in other countries of the world. They also demanded a reorganisation of the existing tax and VAT structure.

The major edible oil and sugar refiners also appraised the Finance and Commerce Adviser about the current demand and stockpile of essential commodities in the country. Representatives of Deshbandhu Group, Meghna Group, S Alam Group, TK Group, and Citigroup attended the meeting, among others.