The government raised the retail prices of both branded and non-branded soybean oil today.
The price of branded bottled soybean oil was increased by Tk 14 to Tk 189 per litre, while that of non-branded loose soybean oil rose by Tk 12 to Tk 169 per litre, said Md Kamal Hossain, public relations officer at the Ministry of Commerce, reports The Daily Star.
The decision came following a review meeting at the secretariat on the import and supply of edible oil.
Earlier on April 13 this year, the Bangladesh Vegetable Oil Refiners and Vanaspati Manufacturers Association announced a hike in oil prices through a notice.
The association had been pushing for a price revision as the benefit of reduced VAT expired on March 31.
In the wake of price volatility and supply shortage of edible oil, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) last year slashed VAT at the import stage to 5 percent and exempted the indirect tax on domestic production and trading.
With the expiry of the reduced rate, the standard 15 percent VAT has now been reinstated.
Bangladesh`s annual demand for edible oil stands at around 24 lakh tonnes, with about 90 percent met through imports, according to the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission (BTTC).
