Food Management and Trading Company reduces prices of food items as Dashain nears

Published On: September 24, 2022 01:35 PM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

KATHMANDU, Sept 24: Those who buy food items from the state-owned Food Management and Trading Company (FMTC) will get some relief while Dashain festival is nearing.

There will be some relief in the prices of oil, flour and pulses as the FMTC has reduced the prices of food grains sold in fair price shops.

The FMTC was under pressure as the rates prevailing in the competitive market gradually decreased. The company has reduced the prices of sunflower oil, soybean oil, mustard oil, flour and lentils amid complaints that the prices of daily essentials at the FMTC were more expensive than in the market.

Information Officer at the FMTC Sarmila Subedi said that it is natural for the company to reduce the prices of food grains in the market as there were concerns that their prices at the FMTC were more expensive than in the market. "The company had purchased these goods a little earlier. The market prices of these goods have now fallen. However, they are being sold at a reduced price now even if the company has to incur some losses," she said.

Subedi said that since it is a government-owned company it also has a policy of selling goods at cheaper prices than in the market. She said that the prices of these goods have been reduced as much as eight rupees per kg

Now, the price of mustard oil is Rs 275 per liter and sunflower oil is Rs 285 per liter. The price of Soybean oil has been reduced by Rs five. It now cost Rs 240 per liter.

Similarly, the price of lentils (Split red lentil) has been reduced by Rs 8 per kg. It has been reduced from Rs 160 per kg to Rs 152 per kg. The company reduced the price of flour by Rs 4 to Rs 87 per kg. Earlier, the company had fixed the price of Rs 91 per kg flour.

The FMTC has been purchasing food grains with Salt Trading Corporation and other traders. Recently, the company has been under pressure to reduce the prices after it faced criticisms that the food items it is selling is more expensive than the prices in common shops.