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Attempt to Hike Price of Essentials Before Ramadan

Govt going tough on vested quarters


Published : 28 Feb 2020 08:56 PM | Updated : 07 Sep 2020 07:08 PM

The government is going tough on different vested quarters plotting to hike the cost of essentials artificially ahead of the holy Ramadan. The holy Ramadan is expected to begin on Thursday evening, 23rd April and will end on Saturday, 23rd May. The exact date is based on the sighting of the Moon.

As part of the move, the Prime Minister’s Office (PM) issued directives to the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) to carry out marketing of the essentials by incorporating all the district and upazila administrations for keeping the commodity price at tolerable level during the Ramadan.

In the capital Dhaka, at least four mobile teams have been monitoring every day the kitchen market in the city whether the entire supply chain, including the import and distribution of the commodity, is going on smoothly. When the holy month starts approaching nearer, different vested quarters, dishonest businessmen and organised syndicates in association with influential people become very active to extract people’s money by hiking price hike of essentials.

According to commerce and home ministries sources, they have taken an effective initiative which will cool down the market. “As per the directive of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) whatever he might be, it wouldn’t matter us. And nobody will be spared if found guilty in the allegations of artificial price hike of essential,” an official of commerce ministry told The Bangladesh Post on Friday.

The dishonest traders form syndicates in order to create artificial crisis of these essentials, especially those consumed during the Ramadan, he said, adding many of them have already been identified. Theses group start hiking prices of onion, sugar, edible soya bean oil, edible palm oil, garlic, ginger, lentils, chickpeas, dried chili, cinnamon, clove, cardamom, seeds of coriander and cumin, turmeric, bay leaves and edible salt.

They also start hoarding of those essentials consumed during the Ramadan, and in a planned way, manipulate the kitchen market prices. Besides, they also create supply scarcity. As a result, prices of essentials go up during the Ramadan. The government has already framed strategies for people by ensuring smooth supply and price at affordable level of the daily essentials during the holy month.

Besides, it has taken programmes so that the country can have a smooth supply of the essentials like onion, soybean oil, sugar, chick pea, lentil and dates. In this regard, a five-member committee has been formed to oversee the activities of TCB- with additional secretary of the concerned commerce ministry as its convener.

The ministry information showed that, to ensure faster goods unloading which would be bought for Ramadan, the ministry sought cooperation from the shipping ministry and other concerned organisations. At the same time, the ministry has requested the central bank to expedite the disposal of LCs opened for Ramadan.

Commerce ministry Tipu Munshi recently at a joint meeting said, “We have taken a raft of measures to keep stable the country’s kitchen market ahead of Ramadan. There will be no artificial crisis of essentials during the holy month. We have sufficient stock of goods”. “Surveillance will continue to keep market stable, at the same time, mobile court will also continue their activities. Law enforcement agencies will be also there”, he added.

According to the commerce ministry, the TCB will be selling 30,000 tonnes of edible oil and 25,000 tonnes of sugar. The annual demand of the edible oil is 20 lakh tonnes and some 3.5 lakh tonnes oil are needed in Ramadan. The country has now a stock of 13.22 lakh tonnes edible oil, including the import of 12.22 lakh tonnes, which have been made during July to December in 2019, official sources said.

While the demand of three lakh tonnes sugar solely in Ramadan, the government will sell 25,000 tonnes sugar through the TCB during this period and the country already has a stock of more nine lakh tonnes against the annual demand of 18 lakh tonnes. Besides, the TCB will sell 30,000 tonnes onion, 3,000 tonnes lentil, 8,000 tonnes chick-pea and 500 tonnes dates during the Ramadan.

Earlier, the commerce ministry in a letter to the governor of the central bank, directed him to take necessary action for import of these essential items smoothly by traders concerned. In response to the letter, the central bank has already issued a circular, asking authorised dealer (AD) banks to take required action in this regard.