Home ›› 26 Feb 2023 ›› Front
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has withdrawn the fixed tariff on both raw and refined sugar imports ahead of Ramadan, so consumers can buy this commodity at lower rates.
Under the move, the customs authority withdrew Tk 3,000 fixed tariff on importing per tonne of raw sugar and Tk 6,000 per tonne of refined sugar with immediate effect, read a notification issued yesterday. The benefit will extend until May 30 this year.
Regulatory duty on sugar imports was also slashed from 30 per cent to 25 per cent, the notification added.
“We have withdrawn the fixed tariff and reduced regulatory duty in a bid to keep sugar prices at an affordable level for the consumers,” an NBR official said.
As a result of the reduction, the overall import costs of raw and refined sugar are expected to decline by Tk 6,500 and Tk 9,000 per tonne, respectively, according to an estimate by the NBR.
On October 14, 2021, the NBR slashed the regulatory duty on raw sugar only, and offered the privilege until February 28, 2022, to curb the spiralling prices in the local market.
The revenue board on March 6, 2022, extended the reduced tariff benefit for importing raw sugar ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, and the benefit remained till May 15, 2022. This facility was effective retrospectively from March 1 of the same year.
According to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), consumers had to pay Tk 120 for each kg of sugar on Sunday, up 48 per cent compared to the same day a year ago.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Sugar Refiners Association increased the prices of sugar by Tk 5 per kg to Tk 107 per kg for loose refined sugar and Tk 112 for packaged refined sugar. The prices came into effect on February 1, 2023.
Currently, Bangladesh has a demand of around 21 lakh tonnes of sugar. To meet this demand, around 20 lakh tonnes of raw sugar is imported. The rest of the demand is met by local production, and refined sugar imports, according to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics data.
