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Smuggling of fertiliser, edible and fuel oils to India, Myanmar on rise
Shakhawat Hossain
2/12/2006
Smuggling of fertiliser, edible oil and petroleum products from Bangladesh to its neighbouring countries -- India and Myanmar -- is on the rise putting an adverse impact on national economy.
This was revealed in a recent report prepared by the home ministry.
The report also observed that the rise in smuggling was posing a serious threat to the economy as the country had been forced to spend huge amount of hard earned foreign exchange on importing those essential commodities.
"Smuggling of fertiliser and petroleum products to India and Myanmar has risen in the current Boro production season," said the home ministry report.
"Edible oil is the new commodity that has also been added to the smugglers' list," said the report.
The home ministry has decided to form community motivation committees (CMCs) at the district level to help prevent smuggling of fertiliser, edible oil and petroleum products.
Directives have already been sent to Deputy Collectors (DCs) and Thana Nirbahi Officers (TNOs) to take necessary measures to form the CMCs.
Without motivating people and businessmen, the home ministry said, it will be difficult to check the smuggling, which is putting pressure on the country's economy.
Economies of different countries, including Bangladesh, have been hit by the rise in prices of petroleum products in the international markets since last year. The country's annual import bill has almost doubled over a period of last one year.
Bangladesh is facing difficulty to arrange over US $ 2.0 billion to meet the oil import bill for the current calendar year. The central bank has recently been asked to arrange $300 million to foot the import bills on oil for consumption over a two-month period.
The country has to pay a part of the oil import bills from its own reserve as assurance of only $ 1.3 billion has so far been received from three international banks.
The annual demand for fertiliser is about 3.7 million tonnes. Nearly 2.0 million tonnes of fertiliser are imported both by the private and public sectors each year.
On the others hand, edible oil worth more than Tk 30 billion are consumed in Bangladesh. Of which, nearly 90 pre cent is met through imports.
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