Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - The government has no plan to lift the ongoing ban on export of hilsha fish to ensure smooth supply at home markets, commerce minister Tofail Ahmed said in Dhaka on Wednesday.
"How much we get from export of hilsha fish? We don't have any immediate plan to resume hilsha export," the minister told the Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS), the country’s lone state-run news agency.
Referring to the upcoming month of Ramadan, the commerce minister said people will enjoy the fish at an affordable price during the special month.
The government on July 31, 2012 had imposed the ban on hilsha export to keep its prices at reasonable level in domestic market.
According to the Department of Fisheries (DoF), the hilsha catch in the last fiscal stood about at 391 thousand tonnes.
BBN/SSR/AD-05Mar14-11:26 am (BST)