Dhaka, May 7 -- Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi on Monday urged tradesmen to lower prices of essential items during the holy month of Ramadan, in effect asking them to overturn fundamentals of supply and demand that have stood the test of time just on his say-so.

The Commerce Minister, himself a successful businessman in his past life who got minted on RMG before branching out into real estate and healthcare, made the call during a views-exchange meeting on market monitoring as a way to keep prices of essential commodities stable during Ramadan.

Since his appointment to succeed party veteran Tofail Ahmed as commerce minister, Munshi left no room for doubt as to what he viewed as his very first challenge: prevent the price hikes that seem ...