Govt withdraws onion import duty, cuts for sugar

The government has withdrawn import duty on onion and reduced that on sugar by 10 per cent to stabilise the prices of the two essential items in the local market.

Two Statutory Regulatory Ordinance issued by the National Board of Revenue (NBR) under the finance ministry on Thursday said import duty on onion was withdrawn while regulatory duty on sugar import was cut to 20 per cent from 30 per cent.

The notifications said the order would be effective immediately.

They also said onion import duty withdrawal would be effective till December 31 this year, and reduced duty on sugar import till February 28 next year.

Currently, there is 10 per cent tax on onion import while sugar import comes with 30 per cent regulatory duty along with specific taxes.

The decision comes at a time when prices of daily essentials, including onion and sugar, keep soaring in the local market.

Local onion sold at Tk 70-75 per kg on Thursday, up from Tk 40-45 a couple of weeks back.

Retailers said they had purchased onion at Tk 65 per kg from wholesalers and were thus bound to sell it for Tk 70 per kg, making a minimal profit.

They think the shortage of supply and fall in imports from neighbouring India are responsible for the onion price hike in the local market.

Besides, they hope onion prices will become normal once there is sufficient supply in the market.

Meanwhile, sugar was sold at Tk 80 per kg in the retail market on Thursday, up from Tk 65-70 a couple of weeks back.

On October 11, the commerce ministry sent a letter to the National Board of Revenue, asking it to withdraw onion import duty and also to either withdraw or reduce sugar import duty.

Wholesalers and retailers have been blaming each other for the recent price hike of the two essential food items, as the commerce ministry on Wednesday said the supply and production of onion were normal.

Prices of onion in the local market has long been dependent on Indian onion supply and import prices.