Quick Purchase of Essentials
TCB exempted from PPA for three years
Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) was exempted from the obligations of Public Procurement Act for three years so that the state agency can buy essential commodities quickly from local and global markets to keep their prices stable.
The cabinet committee on economic affairs, at a meeting with Finance Minister AMA Muhith in the chair yesterday, approved the proposal, sent by the commerce ministry.
A TCB official said they could not import the commodities, purchased under the act in the past, on time. The tenure of the present waiver for TCB expires on May 25.
A commerce ministry official said TCB took initiatives to procure edible oil, sugar, lentil, gram, onion, milk powder and dates on an emergency basis to keep market prices stable during Ramadan, starting in July.
The commerce ministry, in its proposal, said TCB, in the current fiscal year, will purchase 75,000 metric tonnes (MT) of sugar, 50,000 MT of refined and 5,000 MT of crude soybean oil, 5,000 MT of lentil and 2,000 MT of gram.
Letters of credit (L/Cs) were already opened to import some of the commodities while some items have already arrived, said the official.
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