Dhaka, Feb. 16 -- To boost supplies and contain prices of essential commodities during the holy month of Ramadan, the government has taken measures to alleviate the sufferings of common people by reducing value added tax (VAT) and import duties on four commodities - edible oil, sugar, dates and rice last week.
However, the impact of these measures did not come about in the market as yet.
It is shocking that the essentials, according to media reports, are neither falling, rather rising.
This defies common sense. Notably, the national Board of Revenue (NBR), the tax regulator, has slashed VAT and import duties on four essential commodities, namely rice, edible oil, sugar and date to keep their prices under control.
Earlier, the importers ...