The Bangladesh government has approved the purchase of 148 lakh liters of edible oil and 10 thousand tons of lentils to address the growing demand in the domestic market. This decision was made during the 16th meeting of the Advisory Council Committee on government procurement, chaired by the advisor of the Finance Ministry of the interim government of Bangladesh.

The proposal, put forward by the Ministry of Commerce, includes the purchase of 10 thousand tons of lentils worth 0.96 billion taka. The lentils will be sourced from a domestic company through a local open tender, with a unit price of 95.97 taka per kilogram.

Additionally, the government has approved the purchase of 381 lakh liters of loose soybean oil through the Bangladesh Trading Corporation. This will be done via direct purchase from the local market at a rate of 140 taka per liter, with a total expenditure of 5334 crore taka.

The corporation will also buy 110 lakh liters of loose refined palm oil from the same firm, priced at 130 taka per liter, for a total of around 1.43 billion taka.

Bangladesh imports large quantities of palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia, and soybean oil from Argentina and Brazil. However, due to high customs duties, sunflower oil imports are minimal.

Similarly, a significant amount of lentils is imported from Canada and Australia for sale in the domestic market. The government periodically buys pulses and edible oils from these importing countries to stabilize supply.