By IANS
Dhaka : Onions in Bangladesh have become dearer during Ramadan with the rise in price of the commodity imported from India.
The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) of India has raised onion prices and also recommended to the India government a ban on onion exports to control prices in the domestic market.
Bangladesh imports half of its 90,000-tonne annual requirement of onions from India. NAFED has hiked export price from $450 a tonne to $500, causing a negative impact on the local market, New Age newspaper said.
The latest increase would peg the wholesale price of onions in Bangladesh between Taka 40 and Taka 42 per kg.
NAFED’s decision to increase export price of onion will have a negative impact. Onion prices have already soared since the beginning of Ramadan and rise in export price would make it even costlier, traders said.
The decision would impact supply and price of onion, since India is a major source of many farm produce, including onion, said importers at Shayam Bazar here.
NAFED, the Indian government’s main agency for exporting farm produce, has hiked the export price of onions to discourage its export, as domestic demand surged during the festival season.
It upwardly revised export price of onions $500 a tonne for Bangladesh and the UAE, $445 for Pakistan, $495 for Singapore, $470 for Malaysia and $480 for Sri Lanka.