The government has approved onion imports from nine more countries, including Pakistan, in an effort to reduce prices of this essential kitchen ingredient in the domestic market.
An agriculture ministry press release made the disclosure on Thursday.
Traders have been allowed to import 11,820 tonnes of onions from Pakistan, 2,400 tonnes from China, 3,910 tonnes from Egypt, 1,100 tonnes from Qatar, 2,110 tonnes from Turkey, 200 tonnes from Myanmar, 33 tonnes from Thailand, 4 tonnes from the Netherlands, and 3 tonnes from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), it said.
The ministry said 3.79 lakh tonnes of onions have been imported into the country against the approval of 13.73 lakh tonnes.
The government had allowed importing onions from India several months back against the backdrop of the price hike in local kitchen markets.
As the Indian government recently imposed a 40 per cent duty on onion exports, it created an adverse impact on Bangladesh’s domestic markets.
