The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has reduced the regulatory duty on sugar imports by half, lowering it to 15 percent from 30 percent, to reduce the price of sugar.

As a result of this reduction, the import cost of raw sugar will decrease by Tk 11.18 per kilogramme, and the cost of refined sugar will drop by Tk 14.26 per kilogramme, the NBR said in a statement today. 

The NBR expects that sugar prices will decrease in proportion to the duty reduction, and it hopes this measure will also discourage sugar smuggling.

Retail sugar prices in Dhaka have increased by 2 percent over the past month, ranging from Tk 125 to Tk 135 per kilogramme, according to data from the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.