Shawdesh Desk:

Hardship of the consumers is going to be intensified further as soybean oil prices have been raised to Tk160 a litre, marking a Tk 7 a litre hike.

The Bangladesh Vegetable Oil Refiners and Bonospoti Manufacturers Association announced the new prices on Tuesday.

The association said that they raised the prices considering price hike of the edible oil in the international market.

The new price of a five-litre bottle of soybean oil has been set at Tk760 while the non-bottled soybean oil will be sold for Tk136 per litre from now on, it said.

The new price has been fixed after discussion with commerce ministry as the prices of crude soybean and crude palm oil increased in the global market, the association said.

Earlier on Monday, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi hinted further rise in edible oil price by Tk 7 per litre.

Bangladesh imports 2.2 to 2.6 million tonnes of edible oil annually, including 0.7 to 0.8 million tonnes of soybean oil and 1.4 to 1.6 million tonnes of palm oil.

More than 95 per cent of the local demand is met through imports.