Commodity prices to decline in coming year: Agriculture Minister

Agriculture Minister Dr Muhammad Abdur Razzaque on Friday said they are expecting that the commodity prices would come down in the next fiscal as the prices have started declining in the international market.

"Overall we're expecting that our many things would be stable and the commodity prices in the coming year," he said at a post-budget press conference arranged by the Finance Ministry in the city's Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.

The minister was replying to a question from reporters over the government's steps to arrest commodity prices in the coming fiscal.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Thursday unveiled the Tk761,785-crore proposed national budget for the financial year of 2023-2024 in Parliament.

Dr Razzaque said the fuel prices have declined in the international market, while prices of other goods have started going down.

He said the government will make all sorts of efforts to support the low-income people like Rickshaw and Van Pullers to maintain the living standard.

In reply to another question, the Agriculture Minister said labour wage went high in the country which reflects the improvement of life and livelihood in Bangladesh.

He said irrigation, seeds and fertilizers used to cause higher costs for farmers in the past. But now the labour wage causes the higher cost. Besides, the working hours of a day labourer declined, he added.

LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Md Tazul Islam said some 30 million jobs were generated in the last one and a half decade.

He said the number of the country's employed people was 47,300,000 in 2007, which is now 71,100,000. So, some three crore jobs were arranged, he said replying to a question over employment generation.

The LGRD Minister said the unemployment rate is now 3.2 in Bangladesh. So, the situation in Bangladesh is better than that in many other countries, he added.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, Education Minister Dipu Moni, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi, State Minister for Planning Dr Shamsul Alam, Bangladesh Bank Governor Abdur Rouf Talukder and National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem answered different questions related to the proposed budget in the press conference.

Besides, Planning Minister MA Mannan, Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun, PM's Economic Affairs Adviser Dr Mashiur Rahman, Cabinet Secretary Md Mahbub Hossain and Finance Secretary Fatima Yasmin, among others, were present.