No hike in edible oil prices before proper review: Minister

Commerce Minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir said on Wednesday that edible oil prices would not be increased without a proper review of the matter.
“Although traders have demanded an increase in edible oil prices, the government will take a decision after examining the matter carefully,” he told journalists after inaugurating riverbank protection work at Kanishaile, on the right bank of the Surma River in Sadar upazila.
The work is part of the Surma-Kushiyara River Basin Development and Flood and Integrated Water Resources Management Project.
The commerce minister made the comment amid growing pressure from edible oil traders and refiners for a price adjustment, less than a month after the price of 
bottled soybean oil was raised by Tk5 per litre on 3 September.
The call for a price hike coincided with a reported supply crunch in the market, with traders in Dhaka and several other districts complaining of difficulties in obtaining sufficient quantities of bottled soybean oil from refiners.
The supply crunch has already led to price increases for loose soybean and palm oil in Dhaka over the past week.
Retailers attributed the scarcity to refiners controlling supplies on the grounds that companies had demanded a price hike.

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