Erratic sugar market

The sugar market has been behaving erratically since long. A government press note, on the other hand, has claimed that there is no sugar supply shortage in the market with the further assurance that more sugar is in the pipeline. So, if one is to go by the government's version on the matter, there should be no crisis of sugar. Unfortunately, the reality on the ground makes a mockery of the government's claim to the contrary.
The very high price differential at around Tk. 20 per kilogram of sugar between the TCB-run fair price shops and those in the open market speaks volumes for the situation. The consumers belonging to the middle and the lower income bracket are as a result finding it hard to meet their daily need of sugar, let alone fulfill the extra demand for iftar in this month of fasting. Small wonder one sees their long queue at the fair price outlets manned by Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) dealers. But whatever is available at the fair shops is but like a drop in the ocean.
Who is then to blame for the inordinate rise of sugar price in the market? While the refiners say they were selling sugar at the mill gate at a fair price, the wholesalers contest it. Some quarters, both in the government and outside it, have pointed a finger at an unholy syndicate behind the crisis of sugar in the market.
The poor consumers are in quite a quandary. For they have been forced to pay through the nose, in spite of all the promises made by the government to keep the essential commodity market stable.
They have also watched the business leaders of the country under the banner of the FBCCI monitoring the city's essential commodity market. The government, too, has meanwhile launched a good number of drives to rein in the market. But nothing has worked. And we are again back to square one with sugar now grabbing all the attention.
Admittedly, the sugar price spiral is an indicator of the government's failure to tame the market. It is expected in a free market economy that the market forces would play their due role in stabilising prices. Regrettably, due to inexplicable reasons that has not been the case in Bangladesh. That is why it necessitates government intervention from time to time.
In the present case the government could at least act early to import adequate quantity of sugar and market it through TCB dealers. That would have foiled the design of hoarders or syndicates, if any. And as always, it has now gone for importing sugar when the Eid-ul-Fitr is around the corner. Sad to say, any big arrival of sugar consignment at this late stage will do little to mitigate the suffering of the consumers.