Dhaka, March 25 -- Traders have shown an enigmatic reluctance for importing potatoes despite prognosis about possible decline in domestic output this season, which economists say could prompt profiteers bet on this item.

One ploy is obvious from the designated importers' side: low profit margins and the beginning of arrivals of new harvest on the domestic market.

The government has given import permits (IPs) to traders to bring 0.159 million tonnes of carbohydrate-rich vegetable since the last week of October 2023 following a tectonic rise in prices of the kitchen item in Bangladesh. Potato price then shot up to Tk 60-70 a kg in a new record.

It was first time that the ministry of agriculture (MoA) gave approval for potato import.

How...