TCB plans open market sale of essential commodities

The state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) is planning a pilot initiative to sell selected essential commodities in the open market, outside its Smart Family Card system, to ease prices and give relief to consumers, TCB Chairman Brigadier General Mohammad Foyshol Azad told BSS recently.
Commodities procured cheaply from abroad will be sold below market rates without any government subsidy, he said. “This is completely a new initiative and it’s a thought of the present government,” he said.
The pilot will begin with edible oil, with the first shipment of around 20,000 metric tonnes expected in the first week of September. “We are starting with edible oil. If we can procure lentils at a lower price, we will also sell lentils. If we can procure sugar at a lower price, we will sell sugar as well,” he said, noting strong demand had pushed up oil prices.
Unlike the Smart Card scheme, the open sale will be available to all consumers and run as a three-to-four-month trial. Its continuation would depend on whether TCB could sell the commodity effectively. “If I bring the product but can’t sell it, then this can’t be continued. If I can sell it, then we can move forward,” he said, adding prices could be Tk10 to Tk12 lower per unit than market rates.
He ruled out any subsidy, saying TCB would procure commodities cheaply and sell at a narrow margin, still below market price, distinguishing it from the subsidised Smart Card scheme.
Sugar and lentils could follow if procured competitively, though TCB would not intervene in every commodity market, only when supply or price pressures demanded it.
No extra budget allocation is needed for now, as provision already exists, he said. “If the pilot is successful, it will go for extension,” he added, hoping the move would help bring down market prices.