Why are prices of essentials still out of control?

It is extremely disheartening that, amid the increased economic struggles of people due to the pandemic, the prices of essential commodities have continued to remain high in Bangladesh's kitchen markets. One would have expected the government to address this issue more urgently. In fact, given that prices of certain commodities have historically gone up during this time of year, the government should have pre-empted this by taking appropriate measures before prices shot up to such heights. What is more disappointing is that, in the case of certain commodities, the price hike seems to be completely unjustified—the result of traders trying to exploit consumers to make exorbitant profits.

Take the price of onions, for instance. Traders have been trying to blame its rising price on disruptive weather in India. What is interesting, however, is that right after the five percent import duty on onions was withdrawn on Thursday, its price came down from around Tk 80-85 per kg to Tk 60-65, even though it takes at least four to five days to bring onion through the land port from India—which means traders lowered its price even before they could possibly import more of it. This is a clear example of how traders are exploiting the increased prices of certain commodities in the international market to raise prices of all commodities in the local market.

The government has time and again acknowledged the existence of syndicates trying to take advantage of any crisis and raise commodity prices. But what has it done to root out such syndicates? As far as we can tell, its actions have been wholly inadequate, and it is the consumers who always suffer as a result of such failures. Moreover, when it comes to certain commodities such as onion and sugar, the government consulted with traders to fix an appropriate rate for them to sell these commodities, which the traders are not adhering to. So, on what basis were the prices set, if they are not enough for traders to sell the items at and make profit? All these questions have to be answered by the relevant authorities.

At the end of the day, it is the responsibility of the government to ensure that commodity prices remain stable and affordable for people. For this, the government has plenty of resources and personnel. If prices are in danger of rising due to supply issues in the international market, the government should have taken counter measures to address them. Unfortunately, it has once again failed to do that. Now it must urgently provide direct support to people who are struggling to even meet their daily nutritional needs. Additionally, it should investigate why state officials once again failed to control prices of essential commodities during this time of crisis for the people.