Competition commission to meet businessmen, government bodies

Against the backdrop of unusual price hikes of rice, chicken and eggs and their artificial supply crunch, Bangladesh Competition Commission has scheduled two different dialogues on Sunday with businessmen and government bodies to analyse the situation and plan for controlling the unstable market.

The dialogue for poultry and egg will be held at the commission’s conference room with concerned stakeholders like the commerce ministry, Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection, Consumer’s Association of Bangladesh, Feed Industries Association Bangladesh, and Bangladesh Poultry Industries Association.

The dialogue for rice will be held at the same place and date with the commerce ministry, Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection along with Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission, and Bangladesh Auto Rice Mill Owners Association.

The chair of the dialogues Md Mofizul Islam, former senior secretary of the commerce ministry and the chairperson of Bangladesh Competition Commission, told The Business Post, “We will take information regarding the cost in every stage of production and trade to understand how the price has

gone up and what types of interventions will be required to control the ongoing price hikes of most essential commodities like rice, farm egg and farm chicken.”

At present, the country’s people are struggling to keep pace with the escalating cost of living expenditure as the price of these items and other most consumed essentials is gradually increasing due to the increase in fuel price and load shedding. On August 5, a day before the government hiked fuel prices by record levels in the country’s history, the price of coarse rice was Tk 48 per kg, which shot up to Tk 50 on August 11. The consumers saw a further Tk 2 rise to Tk 52 per kg on August 14.

On Wednesday, the city dwellers bought the same rice at Tk 54, according to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) data.

Meanwhile, the price of fine rice rose to Tk 78 per kg on August 11 from Tk 75 per kg on August 5 while the same rice was sold at Tk 80 per kg on Wednesday.

People are experiencing the same scenario in the chicken and egg market. The price of farm egg, the key protein source for low and middle earners, continues its skyrocketing trend as it rose to Tk 165 a dozen on Wednesday, an all-time high in the country according to TCB.

The price was Tk 141 a dozen on August 10, and Tk 120 on July 17 meaning the price surged to around 35 per cent within a single month, according to TCB.

Farm chicken price is also surging as it hit Tk 200 per kg on Wednesday while it was Tk 180 on August 10 and Tk 150 on the same date a month ago.