The heated up market volatility of Ramadan usually cools down a little bit in the post-Eid period. But this time there is no relief for the consumers. Market has become exceptionally jittery particularly for two commodities in high demand in the month of siam (self-abnegation) along with yet another unlikely one. These two items are onion and sugar. A kilogram of onion before the Eid-ul-Fitr was priced at Tk35-40 but it is now dearer by at least Tk 20. The price has suddenly shot up to Tk55-60 depending on quality. Sugar is supposed to be sold at the retailed shops at the government-fixed price of Tk 104 a kilogram but a consumer has to buy it at Tk 130.
What is even more surprising is the sudden leap in price of potato from its pre-Eid price tag of Tk 25-30 to Tk40-50 a kilo. Market intervention prior to and during Ramadan helped arrest the prices of the more common items from going irrationally high. A classic example was the price of broiler chicken. But post-Eid price hike of onion and potato is a shocker. Potato which can be used both as an alternative to staples and vegetables in particular has experienced a dull market for years together. In fact, farmers and stockists had to incur losses because of low price of the item. There were even reports of farmers' agony and desperation over lower price of potato. Cattle were fed potato on taking delivery of their stocks from cold storages just before arrival of new harvest.
So what has happened by this time that potato, which is not in a higher demand in the month of Ramadan, has become almost doubly costlier? Even there is no reason for onion to mark a price hike because this is the peak harvesting time of this crop. Then there is report that rice and wheat have at last started showing a price decline. Although prices of these two staples had started coming down in international market three months before, domestic market here defied the global trend. But unsurprisingly, the 3.0 to 6.0 per cent price decline in the wholesale market has not come into effect in the retail market for common consumers.
Clearly, there is no relief from a raw deal, at the receiving end of which the consumers in this country always find themselves. But why? It is because of the absence of even the minimum business ethics here. Where outrageous profit making is the last word for an economy no matter if it requires all the guiles, intrigues and insincerity, business syndicates rule the roost. They have a sway over policymakers and people in power so much that popular agenda are often relegated to the back burner.
The Directorate of National Consumers' Right Protection (DNCRP) did a highly appreciable task by analysing the production cost of broiler chickens in poultry farms. That exposed the irrational profit the poultry farms were making by suddenly raising the price of this cheapest source of nutrition to record high. Thus the price of this meat was brought down from its all-time high of Tk 280-290 to Tk 210-220 a kilogram.
In this age of digitisation, the prices of all imported items are a button click away. The other allied costs involving among others, import duty and transport, are also easily available. If the authorities want to serve public interests, they must overcome their weaknesses and empower the DNCRP many times over to keep a tab on all imported goods. After doing the overall costing of the essentials in particular, the price hike of which are politically and socially highly sensitive, the outrageous profit margin can be brought down through negotiation.
This was done in case of broiler chicken when the four big companies of poultry farms were shown they could easily slash Tk 50 or 60 and still had a reasonable profit margin. This plan worked, so should it in case of any other commodity. But not all commodities fall in the category of the essentials. So, focus should be directed to those essentials in common and of everyday use. Where business ethics is violated with impunity, such a step will be the right answer to abrupt market volatility.
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
