Bangladesh hikes rawhide prices for animal sacrifice festival sale

Dhaka, May 25 (IANS) The Bangladeshi interim government has hiked the prices of rawhide by five taka per square foot for procurement during the upcoming largest festival of animal sacrifice.

Bangladeshi Commerce Adviser Sheikh Bashir Uddin announced at a press conference in Dhaka on Sunday that this year the government sets the price of salted cow rawhide at 60-65 taka per square foot in Dhaka and 55-60 taka outside Dhaka, Xinhua news agency reported.

He said the price of salted goat rawhide was set at a maximum of 22-27 taka per square foot, up from 20-25 taka last year.

The adviser had earlier said the government has decided to allow export of unprocessed rawhide of animals sacrificed during this year's Eid al-Adha occasion with the aim of fostering demand and ensuring better prices for traders at the field level.

Usually, during the festival, a key trading season for rawhides, approximately 80 per cent of the year's total rawhide collection is gathered.

Nearly 13 million sacrificial animals, mostly cows and goats, have been prepared for this year's Eid al-Adha, expected to be celebrated in the South Asian country on or around June 7.

Dhaka authorities have approved at least 19 cattle markets along with two permanent ones to help Dhaka residents purchase sacrificial animals in designated spots. (1 U.S. dollar equals 122.8 taka)

--IANS

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