Trusting traders was a mistake: Tipu Munshi

Trusting edible oil traders was a mistake, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi has said.

The edible oil traders have failed to keep their words, he said on Monday while answering a question of the reporters in a press briefing on edible oil management in the market at the secretariat.

When it was asked if the ministry has failed to manage the market as they could not put a reign on the rising price of edible oil, the minister said, “We accept our failure because the traders did not pay heed to our words and broke their commitment to keeping the price at a reasonable price for 7 days during the Ramadan”.

I have told all our organizations to sell the oil at a fixed price. No samples of oil syndication were found in the market.

However, the retailers and dealers have taken the opportunity. But, we will not let anyone take advantage.

“We used to sit in one and a half months.” We will sit again when there is an opportunity to reduce oil prices,” he said when asked about the next price adjustment meeting.

The commerce minister further said that the price of oil has gone up in the international market. No one is saying how much the price of oil has risen in the global market. “The price has indeed gone up in the international market, it is also true that ordinary people are suffering. But people can understand the reason. In the case of oil, we depend on others for 90 per cent of our imports.