A one-litre bottle of soybean oil will now cost Tk 168, as the commerce ministry yesterday agreed to the refiners' proposal of hiking the prices of edible oils.

A litre of non-bottled soybean oil will cost Tk 143 while a litre of bottled palm oil will now cost Tk 133, according to the commerce ministry decision.

The price of a five-litre bottle of soybean oil was fixed at Tk 795.

The previous prices were formally fixed on October 19. But the refiners have been selling edible oils at increased prices for a month.

"We formally approved the refiners' proposal," said AHM Shafiquzzaman, additional secretary at the commerce ministry.

The rising prices of crude soybean and palm oil in the international market have pushed the prices up in the local market, officials said.

Bangladesh needs nearly 20 lakh tonnes of edible oil and it has to import 90 percent of it, according to Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission.