Big Firms Allegedly Manipulated Commodity Prices for 15 Years

Bangladesh’s fresh fruit imports fell to $128.51 million in the first half of FY25, the lowest in three years, due to the taka’s depreciation and high import duties. Letters of credit (LC) openings for fruit imports declined 3.29% year-on-year to $140.5 million in July-December FY25.

Bangladeshi food manufacturers secured $34.5 million in confirmed orders at the Gulf Food Fair in Dubai, with an additional $29.1 million in potential export discussions. PRAN Group led with $5 million in orders and a $2 million export discussion, including its first orders from Syria and Russia.

The government has eased procurement rules to import 1 lakh tonnes of rice faster by reducing the bid submission period from 28 to 15 days, per the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs. This is part of a plan to import 700,000 tonnes of rice—the highest in seven years—to stabilize prices and replenish public foodgrain stocks, which fell 22% year-on-year to 11.95 lakh tonnes in December 2023.

Around 80% of Bangladesh’s 40,000 jewellery shops remain outside the VAT net, with only 8,000 registered, contributing just Tk 100 crore in VAT last fiscal year, according to the NBR. The government aims to curb tax evasion by installing Electronic Fiscal Devices (EFDs), but only 1,000 have been implemented so far.

Over the past 15 years, large businesses with ties to the former government allegedly manipulated commodity prices, gaining market control and pushing out smaller enterprises. At a Dhaka discussion, experts criticized price gouging, supply chain extortion, and the unfair benefits these firms received, such as gas connections for new factories.

Olympic Industries Ltd has decided to acquire 273 decimals of land worth Tk 17.03 crore in Sonargaon, Narayanganj, for expansion. The land includes 84 decimals behind its Lolati factory for Tk 3.36 crore, 118.71 decimals for Tk 11 crore, 35 decimals for Tk 1.4 crore, and 18.17 decimals for Tk 72.68 lakh, all priced at Tk 4 lakh per decimal.