This is the first real test the new minister and his team will face at the commerce ministry. His predecessor was unfortunate enough to be dealt harshly by not just the media but his own government for making statements that went sideways more often than not. Perhaps this time around, the people will be spared theatrics and expect for more constructive actions that will leave a lasting impression. One does not envy the minister because the gentleman walks a fine line between what people demand and what he can deliver. Promises have been made and hopefully they will be kept.
Promises at the level of the ministries concerned were mostly made only to break. There were instances before the last Ramadan when businesspeople went the other way immediately after agreeing to maintain the government-fixed prices of a few essentials at meetings with the commerce minister. In the Middle East countries, traders are literally in competition for offering discounts on sale of commodities. A sense of piety drives them to do so. But here traders target the holy month to maximise their business profits. This is how they make a mockery of religious teachings.
If the poor bear the brunt of such motivated price hikes, there is a class of people for whom money is literally not a problem. But the market does not survive on these people. The general consumers keep the market thriving. If a large segment of people has its purchasing power eroded, the market undergoes stagflation or worse negative growth.
More often than not, excuses are made at policy level about how things are simply awful in the international markets and how it is impossible to procure goods at decent prices from abroad. It is also awful to learn that while the national board of revenue (NBR) has been cutting import duty on many items, the government's own investigations have unravelled more than one racket by importers / millers / traders where artificial price manipulation has been going on and no stringent action has been taken against them.
So, while the latest effort expended by the ministry concerned for replenishing rice and other farm produce stocks from neighbouring Myanmar, will it be enough to stabilise rice prices at the retail level? This is exactly what concerns the common people. Food price in the international market has been quite low although there is prediction that prices of rice will most likely go up soon. On that count, the initiative for early import deserves appreciation. The plan for import, however, is still waiting for approval from various stakeholders and it does not look good. Why wait till this late hour to move on this very pressing matter? As per a report published in this newspaper recently: "The MoU will be signed between the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) and the Myanmar Rice Federation (MRF), an umbrella body of Myanmar's private-sector rice industry."
Will this MoU and later, an agreement, be able to deliver the goods as promised? We must hope for the best that the basket of essential commodities that include ginger, garlic, onions and of course, rice will be delivered on time and at a price that will be affordable to all. At the end of the day, it can only be hoped that those parties that are involved in artificial price manipulation and hoarding of goods will be dealt with a firmer hand than in the past. After all, big business has never had so much political clout as it has today. But politicians would do well to remember that disregard for public needs always comes at a price.
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