Just a year ago, Aminur Rahman, a private sector employee living in Dhaka, could buy a moderate amount of essential goods, including rice, soybean oil, onions, salt and eggs, at Tk 553 from stores in Dhaka city

The Bangladesh Bank is yet to take any visible measure in line with a commerce ministry directive aimed at asking banks to earmark a portion of their foreign currency holdings to open letters of credit to import essentials ahead of Ramadan. 

The government is contemplating ways to bring down prices of essentials that have gone beyond public reach following the record fuel oil price hike.

The Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) has postponed its decision to sell daily essentials scheduled to start tomorrow, it said in a statement.