Photo : Collected
Market analysts and eminent economists of the country believe the current upward trend of kitchen market commodity prices can be kept under check through proper monitoring and ensuring a steady supply chain. For one reason or the other, from the Ukraine war to country wide floods, traders have been increasing prices within 24 hours. Surprisingly, prices kept rising even when there was no short supply of a particular commodity. A section of unscrupulous traders kept onions in their warehouses under lock and key to create an artificial crisis in the market. As a result, we have seen prices of onions hit the ceiling a couple of years back.
According to a study, prices of essential commodities have registered a rise by 50 to nearly 200 per cent in the past three years, thereby arranging three square meals for the family members became difficult for the parents of lower and lower-middle-income people. Even common vegetables have become a rarity in many kitchens in recent times. One government data says that the prices of many commodities, such as onion, garlic, potato, fish, beef, sugar, egg, and ginger, increased by 25 to 234 per cent in the past year, from August 30, 2022 to August 30, 2023.
This is quite baffling that when the global food price index shows a downward trend from July 2022 to June 2023, in Bangladesh it had no reflection. Rather, here prices of food continued to rise. According to one data, the average inflation rate for the financial year 2022–23 was 9.02 per cent, the highest in 12 years.
One vital reason for such an upward trend of prices of essentials in the country is the veritable absence of compatible experts, who would be entrusted with the solemn duty of monitoring and reporting the manipulators and hoarders to the proper authority. It is a common perception that had the hoarders and profiteers been punished in the past years, we would have seen less number of such criminals now.
It is unfortunate that when corruption of many big guns has been reported with details in the media, no action has been taken against them by the authorities.
Messenger/Fameema
