Zero margin sought for importing six essential commodities

Essential commodity importers and traders on Wednesday demanded zero margin import of six commodities which will be essential during the upcoming holy month of Ramadan.

The six items are onion, edible oil, sugar, lentil, chickpeas and dates.

Businessmen made the demand in a meeting with Senior Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh at his secretariat office in the capital today.

Tapan held the meeting with the businessmen to inform them about the stock and supply situation of those goods ahead of Ramadan.

He said the commerce ministry would send a letter to the central bank with a call to ease the conditions and make US dollars available for the import of the six commodities ahead of the ensuing month of Ramadan.

The holy month of fasting for Muslims is scheduled to begin in the second week of March, depending on the sighting of the moon.