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Controlling prices during Ramadan

8/17/2006

Right now, all are scared apprehending the price situation during the month of Ramadan. This apprehension becoming apparent when we see how the prices of almost all commodities shot up beyond the purchasing power of the people. Although importers of essential commodities have recently assured the government of their cooperation in keeping supply chain smooth and prices stable in the market, but there is still confusion about its fulfillment.
During the meeting with the Commerce Secretary, the importers have hinted that the domestic prices of the essentials would fluctuate with price movements in the international market. All know, price hike will happen as price fixing is not only dependent on import. There are many other excuses for them to cause so.
During the meeting, the importers also blamed the retailers for manipulating the market prices and urged the government to take some steps to keep the price stable. They also demanded monitoring and investigations to find out the reasons why the price in wholesale and retailed market has a wide gap. The importers also urged the government to impose specific import duty, instead of existing different duty structures on the essential commodities and keep the land and seaports open on weekly holidays to help them in keeping the supply and the price stable.
So whatever the situation is now and whatever demands are to be met to keep the prices stable are matters to be dealt with by the government now. People want ease in buying daily items during the month which is for attaining human qualities. So the government should take effective measures like strong monitoring both at import and retail levels to check the price situation. It is important for the government ahead of the election because majority people are now facing real hardship in managing their budget. Any further rise in the prices would be a disaster for many.
Taher Ali
Naya Paltan
Dhaka