Shawdesh desk:

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday said her government mulls further steps to bring down essentials’ prices to keep them within ordinary consumers tolerable level.

“Price of essentials has gone up. I belief, it is urgently need to take more measures to bring down the price of essentials to tolerable level,” she said.

The prime minister was presiding over the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) meeting joining virtually from her official Ganabhaban residence in the capital.

Her cabinet colleagues were present at the meeting at NEC conference room in city.

The premier expressed her apprehension that disastrous incidents might be organised in the country as conspiracy is usually hatched here whenever any move is taken to change the fate of the masses

She asked all to remain alert about the disastrous something for the country.

Sheikh Hasina said they can realise people’s sufferings due to fresh surge of essentials prices due to the global situation.

“I know essentials price has increased due to recent hike in fuel price for global situation. The lower, lower middle, middle and fixed income groups’ people are suffering from essentials price hike. We can realise that,” she added.

To ease the public sufferings, the prime minister said her government is going to sell rice at Tk 15 per kilogram (from September 1) to 50 lakhs families alongside taking measures to sell essentials in a fixed price to one crore families through family cards.

“We believe we have to take some more measures so the commoners will not suffer from price hike. We are doing politics for the people and we feel hurt if they go through pain,” she continued.

The prime minister said the price of essentials has shown increasing trend across the globe due to the Russia-Ukraine war, sanctions and counter sanctions alongside the ongoing Coronavirus situation.

“Everything has gone out of our purchasing capacity after imposing sanctions (due to disruption of supplying food), though we have the ability of purchasing,” she said.