Onion market to become stable soon: Commerce secretary

Commerce Secretary Md Zafar Uddin on Monday assured that the onion market will become stable soon as the government has taken effective measures to resolve the crisis.

“On behalf of the government, I want to assure people that the price of onion will come down soon following the government’s effective steps,” he told reporters at the Secretariat.

He said legal steps have been taken against 2,500 people for manipulating onion market.

Onion prices started rising after India banned its export in late September. The item’s price rose to more than Tk 250 per kg. Secretary Zafar said onion price increased as Myanmar hiked export price. Cyclone ‘Bulbul’ also played a part.

He said the government has asked businessmen to import onions from other countries. “A huge amount of onion is being brought via sea,” he said.

Initiatives have been taken to import onions from Egypt, Turkey, and China via air cargo following the directives of the Prime Minister, he added.

Meanwhile, cargo planes carrying the first consignment of onion from abroad will hopefully reach the country Tuesday, said Zafar.

 “The local variety of onion has already hit the market in different districts. The activities of state-owned Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) have been strengthened [to tackle the situation],” he said.