Prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday asked authorities concerned to take measures to reduce import duties on sugar, edible oil, dates and rice ahead of Ramadan.

She gave the directives while presiding over the weekly cabinet meeting at her Tejgaon office, said cabinet secretary Md Mahbub Hossain at a briefing at the secretariat.

The PM’s directives to reduce the import duties on the four commodities, essential especially during the month of Ramadan, came amid price hike of daily essentials.

Ramadan is scheduled to begin in the second week of March in the ongong year.