The abnormal rise in price of rice has intensified miseries of the low- and fixed-income people across the country during this holy month of Ramadan. The sufferings are even more for the middle-class people because they cannot express or share with others their miseries.
Therefore, both poor and middle income groups are bearing the brunt of price hike as they were struggling with the previously skyrocketing prices already. Per kg coarse variety of rice is now being sold at Taka 52 while the price of fine and medium varieties also continues showing an upward trend over the last few weeks despite bumper yield of paddy this year.
Prices of rice increased 2 percent to 5 percent per kg in the last one week in the wholesale markets of Dhaka, Kushtia and Naogaon, based on the rice variety. Therefore, this upward trend has affected the retail market as well.
Both poor and middle
income groups are bearing
the brunt of price hike
But, Bangladesh is currently in third place in global rice production. An unholy nexus of mill owners, importers and hoarders have deliberately increased the price of the main staple food through syndication when the country’s common people have been facing economic hardship.
Hoarders stocked a large quantity of paddy during the harvesting season and now they are creating an artificial crisis in order to make the rice price unstable in the market across the country. Such abnormal rise in rice price cannot be accepted and tolerated at all as the procurement prices have been ascertained rationally during this year.
The intelligence agency identifying a hoarding syndicate behind the rice price spiral, had suggested the government to take immediate stern actions against them.Besides, a study of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies says 50 large mills have the capacity to influence the supply and prices of the staple food. Apart from these, earlier the government had also blacklisted 16,000 rice millers for hoarding in an effort to manipulate price. Currently, the country has over 3, 5000 auto rice mills and 18,500 rice mills. So, the big question is why the identified mill owners, importers and hoarders through forming a syndicate responsible for skyrocketing price hike of rice remain untouched?
The government must take action against this unholy nexus of hoarders and intensify the activities of the market monitoring committees immediately alongside taking all out initiatives to keep the staple food price at tolerable level.