Dhaka, Mar 29 (V7N) -Traders have proposed an increase in the price of edible oil by Tk18 per litre for bottled oil and Tk13 per litre for bulk oil, as the duty waiver on edible oil imports is set to end on Monday.

On Thursday, the Bangladesh Vegetable Oil Refiners and Vanaspati Manufacturers Association submitted this request to the chairman of the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission, reports Bangla Tribune.


After the expiry of the duty benefit for edible oil, traders have requested that this price adjustment take effect from Tuesday.

The letter submitted to the commission said that the VAT exemption on edible oils (palm and soybean oil) and the 5% VAT at the import level will end on Monday.

Consequently, from Tuesday, oil will have to be supplied to the market with a 15% VAT.

Due to this, the members of the association have adjusted the prices of palm and soybean oils, which will take effect on Tuesday, the letter said.


According to the traders' decision, the price of bottled oil, which was Tk175 per litre, will now be Tk193 per litre.

In addition, the price of bulk soybean and palm oil will increase by Tk10 per litre.

Before Ramadan, the government had granted a duty-waiver on edible oils, which is expiring on Monday.

As a result, traders will have four more days to benefit from this waiver.

The government has not yet announced whether it will extend this waiver. Before any announcement, the edible oil refiners have already announced a price hike.

Edible oil traders have said that if the VAT exemption period is extended, the prices will remain the same.

However, if the duty and tax waiver ends, the cost of imports will increase, and in that case, there will be no option but to raise prices.

Earlier, the price of bottled soybean oil was last increased on December 9, when the price per litre was set at Tk175.


From Tuesday, the price of bottled soybean oil will be Tk193 per litre, an increase of Tk18 per litre.

The price of a 5-litre bottle of soybean oil will be set at Tk935.

Similarly, the price of bulk soybean and palm oil will be Tk170 per litre, up from the government-set price of Tk157 per litre, an increase of Tk13 per litre.

 

End/MSS/AJ