How much profit is enough?

Prices of two commodities, onion and potatoes, have gone through the roof. Onion was selling at Tk 130 per kg and potatoes at Tk 60 per kg at the retail level in Dhaka on Wednesday. These explosive prices of the two commodities are largely attributed to the profiteering motive of traders. The tendency to make excessive profit has reached such a level that they are targeting the essential food items like onion, potatoes, sugar, etc. Because, they know if a non-food item's price is raised exorbitantly, the consumers may decide to go without it for days or even months. But if the price of an essential food item is raised, the consumers cannot go without it. They have to buy it, whatever the price. If needed, they will cut their family budget for children's schooling or delay appointment with doctor. They must either save money in every possible way to meet the additional food expenditure or choose to starve. Options are few. So, raising prices of food items is a sure-shot strategy to make windfall gains.

The latest data on inflation available with the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) amply attest to this statement. The non-food inflation rate was 7.82 per cent in September, down from 7.95 per cent in August. On the other hand, the food inflation rate stood at 12.37 per cent in September. Though down from 12.54 per cent in August, still the figure was too high.

Not only Bangladesh but also many other countries including the western world ended up in a battle against the inflationary pressure in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic that forced central banks around the world to loosen the grip on the monetary policy. When the economies were recovering, the Russia-Ukraine war broke out which resulted in another economic shock to the world. But many of the countries have now been able to bring down the inflation rates remarkably. The inflation rate in the European Union fell more than expected to 2.9 per cent in October last. But in Bangladesh, we are still battling against inflation. Experts say we could use the monetary policy far earlier. Besides, in the first 11 months of the last fiscal year Tk 700 billion (70,000 crore) was printed to meet the budget expenditure, the worst form of deficit financing.

However, how much profit is enough? In the western world many companies do not raise prices of their products too much, because it may go beyond the reach of the people. But in our country many of those marketing different products are not guided by business ethics. If they were, how could the prices of onion and potato go so high? There should be a limit. We cannot allow the rich-poor divide to widen for an unending period.

anisurexress@yahoo.com