The Minister of Trade has held an emergency consultative meeting with major importers and retailers of essential commodities amid food price hike. 

The meeting was called two days after the minister vowed to “do everything within his power” to stabilise the rising cost of essential commodities. 

Ousman Bojang, director of Trade said: “The consultation with the major importers is to understand the dynamic in the markets and see what approach we can take. 

“What can we legally do within our powers to reduce some of these costs that might contribute to the high prices of essential commodities?

“And during those discussions few elements came up at the domestic front [and] one of them was to demo rate charges some of these importers will pay at the ports and also at the shipping lines because they keep containers beyond a reasonable charge and return the containers.

“We feel that trade is a crosscutting issue and we need to talk to different stakeholders.”

Reporting by Adama Makasuba