TCB ups lentil price by Tk 5 a kg

The state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) has increased lentil prices by Tk 5 per kg.

The new price will be Tk 65 per kg, said a TCB press release on Wednesday.

TCB Spokesperson Humayun Kabir said the price was raised to adjust to the market.

However, soybean oil, sugar, and onion prices will remain unchanged and be sold at Tk 110 per litre, Tk 55 per kg, and Tk 30 per kg respectively.

The TCB will sell essential items at subsidised prices till February 22 through some 400-450 trucks in the capital, metropolitan areas, districts, and upazilas across the country.

A consumer will be allowed to buy a maximum of two kilograms of sugar, two kilograms of lentil, two litres of soybean oil, and two to five kilograms of onion from the TCB trucks.

Prices of essential commodities have seen an upward trend in the recent past.

Edible oil refiners recently supplied bottled soybean oil to local markets with new price tags though the government had rejected their price hike proposal.

Retailers now sell one-litre bottles of soybean oil at Tk 168, which was Tk 160 on January 25 in parts of the capital.

On October 19 last year, the price of bottled soybean oil was set at Tk 160 per litre, with an increase of Tk 7 per litre.

Pulse prices also went up recently by Tk 10-15 per kg in Dhaka’s kitchen markets, with traders warning that the situation would remain unchanged for a couple of months.