Reducing “unaccounted expenses" in the supply chain will be essential to bring down persistently high inflation in food and essential commodities, Commerce Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir has said.
He used the term “unaccounted expenses” to refer to extortion-related costs at a dialogue organised by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) in Dhaka.
Lowering logistics costs, reducing production input costs and cutting unofficial expenses are key to easing price pressures, he said.
"One way is to reduce logistics costs, another is to reduce input costs," he said. "The third is what someone referred to as extortion. Instead of using such a strong word, I would call it reducing 'unaccounted expenses'."
While stopping short of elaborating on the phrase, he said Bangladesh's logistics costs remain significantly higher than global standards.
