Who controls the onion market?
Government must punish those triggering the abnormal price surge
It is frustrating to know, from a report by the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission (BTTC), that the abnormal hike in local onion prices has been engineered by a section of dishonest traders, despite there being an adequate supply in the market. Earlier this week, a sudden price surge—the price is still high—took consumers by surprise. As unbelievable as it may sound, the price of one kg of onion increased from Tk 140 on Friday to Tk 240-250 on Saturday. This came as a big blow to the ordinary people who are already overburdened with an astronomical cost of living, including spiraling prices of essential commodities.
The near-doubling of onion prices overnight has again exposed the incompetence and failure of the relevant authorities to control the kitchen market. It was evident as soon as India declared a restriction on onion export to Bangladesh till March next year, leading to the syndicate of market manipulators playing their "supply shortage" card and increasing prices instantly. We must ask: who shall we hold responsible for such manipulations that have been happening with alarming regularity? How can the traders inflate prices even after the government put price caps on some essentials only a few months ago?
According to the BTTC, there can actually be an oversupply of onions in the market at present. As of November 30, the country has received 30.8 lakh tonnes of onions from local and foreign sources, while our annual demand for onion is 27-28 lakh tonnes. There should be no reason for any shortage of supply then. Any shortage is an artificially created one, and for that dishonest traders must be punished.
We urge the government to take stern actions to stop this tendency and restore normalcy in the onion market through rigorous monitoring and drives. The BTTC has also recommended withdrawing the import duty on onion until March and relaxing the interest rates and letters of credit margins for importers to further rein in prices, which should be seriously considered by the government.