Food prices soar in Muslim-majority Bangladesh during the Islamic month of fasting, which will begin in the second fortnight of March this year.
This happens when traders take advantage of rising demand for certain products, including cooking oil, onions, sugar, pulses, fruits, vegetables and spices.
In the meeting, business leaders discussed the prices of cooking oil and sugar. Several traders were fined for hoarding cooking oil, and refiners were warned for irregularities after the product prices were hiked last year.
The government’s consumer rights agency recently said it would sit down with sugar industry stakeholders as traders continue to sell sugar at rates much higher than those fixed by refiners while packaged sugar disappears from stores .