The government will not allow any shortage of essentials: Salehuddin

The interim government will ensure that there is no shortage of any essential commodity even if there are financial constraints, financial advisor Salehuddin Ahmed said yesterday.

“We have repeatedly said that we will not allow people to suffer from shortage of essential commodities,” he said after a meeting of the Advisory Council on Government Procurement at the Bangladesh Secretariat.

The council approved proposals to purchase liquefied natural gas (LNG), granular urea fertilizers, sugar, chickpeas and soybean oil.

Ahmed said fertilizers, sugar, chickpeas and soybeans were very important commodities.

Under the proposal, the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh will buy 5,000 tonnes of sugar from City Sugar Industries Ltd, a unit of local commodity giant City Group, at Tk 120.92 per kilogram.

It will be distributed to low-income people at subsidized prices.

The state agency will buy 10,000 tonnes of chickpeas at Tk 107.39 per kilogram from two Australian-based companies: DSL Pacific Pty Ltd (4,000 tonnes) and Aust-Grain Exports PTY Ltd (6,000 tonnes).

Moreover, the committee approved the purchase of 32.60 lakh liters of soybean oil at Tk 163.15 per litre, according to the meeting documents.

It also greenlighted the purchase of two different cargoes of LNG at $14.5 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) and $14.65 per mmbtu.

This will require US-based Excelerate Energy LP to be paid a total of Tk 1,355 crore.

The council approved the Ministry of Industry’s proposal on purchasing 90,000 tonnes of urea, a key ingredient for production of Boro dry season paddy, from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Karnaphuli Fertilizer Company Limited (Kafco).

Under the plan, the Ministry of Industry will purchase 30,000 tons of urea granulate from Qatar at $366 per ton.

Another 30,000 tons will be purchased from Saudi Arabia for $382.6 per tonne. In addition, Kafco will supply 30,000 tons at $365.37 per ton to the government.

The total cost will be around Rs 400 crore, according to the procurement committee.