Save people from market manipulation woes

According to a report published in this newspaper yesterday, the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) has demanded punitive measures against anyone found manipulating prices in the domestic egg market. Leaders of the country's apex trade body came up with the demand during a discussion with market players at the FBCCI office on Monday.

Md Jashim Uddin, president of the FBCCI, said although the price of each egg recently went up by Tk 3, it came down again following drives by government agencies. This shows that the market was manipulated, so traders have to rid of this culture, he added.

The recent months have seen an abnormal hike in the prices of essentials. Inflationary pressures are making lives stifling for the commoners. It is the common people who bear the worst brunt of such artificial price hikes of commodities that goes on in the game of lame excuses continuing between retailers and wholesalers. Under these circumstances, government authorities concerned with monitoring and controlling commodity prices must act immediately to restore discipline in our kitchen markets. Exemplary punishment should be meted out to curb the dubious syndicate operating behind the curtain. The need of the hour is to form a price monitoring committee to oversee that essentials are sold at a fair price. Government must prove that syndicate is not allowed to take an upper hand.

When the price of any item suddenly shoots up, there is a flurry of activity among the ministers and bureaucrats. Raids are launched on godowns and storehouses and even retailers are fined and jailed. But the big bosses are never caught. This happened when the prices of onions shot up and also, more recently, when eggs went up in price. These businesspersons always remain one step ahead of the government.

We are deeply concerned over the unusual increase in the prices of all kinds of daily essentials including, edible oil, lentil, fish, meat and vegetables. Making the fuel price an issue, an unholy nexus of millers, importers and hoarders has deliberately increased the price of essential commodities. Hoarders hoarded a large volume of paddy during the harvesting season and now they are creating an artificial crisis to make the rice price unstable in the markets across the country.

In the absence of effective market monitoring, unscrupulous traders come up with excuses and ploys to create an artificial shortage every year to make an unjust profit. The Consumers Association of Bangladesh, however, blames the government for its failure to ensure a steady supply of goods and lack of market monitoring. Drawing from experience, we observe that syndicates of unscrupulous traders and law enforcers always find an excuse to irrationally increase the prices of goods at certain times. And as some unscrupulous traders are well connected to politically influential quarters, strict legal actions are not taken against them for their fraudulent activities.

This unwarranted price hike taking place at a time that deserves more compassion and care in the service of mankind. The fashion in which dubious traders are toying with common people's pockets already added with the panic of the pandemic by charging high prices of almost all the essentials is beyond known words of criticism. With people's source of income narrowed down under pandemic reality, such irrational price hike of commodities is immoral and unacceptable. If this evil practice is not checked without fail, the rise in the cost of living as a natural outcome would undoubtedly turn low-income people's woes from bad to worse.

While the government should take early steps to tackle the situation at hand and control the market, it should take lasting initiatives to prevent market manipulation. The government should invest in developing a market information system that monitors accurate and timely data on production, supply stock and market prices as well as information related to other factors that may affect kitchen item prices. There should be a mechanism so that market forces can control syndicates. It must also ensure that legal actions are taken against unscrupulous traders rising above any partisan consideration.