CA for alternative mkt channel to ensure price stability

---

Chief Adviser (CA) Fakhruddin Ahmed Tuesday said his government has taken short-mid and long-term steps and policies to keep the prices of essential commodities stable, by streamlining the wayward market, reports UNB.
He expressed the hope that the proposed budgetary measures for controlling market prices would yield positive results.
He also emphasised intensifying successful food procurement to ensure food security in the country as well as developing an "alternative marketing channel" to keep prices of daily necessaries stable.
The head of caretaker government explained the policy steps when a presentation on Price Study was made by Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) experts at his office in the afternoon.
Ahmed observed that the proposed allocation in the national budget for 2007-08 in the agricultural sector, particularly for research and its development, would have a long-term impact on the price of food items by way of increasing agricultural production.
He stressed preparing annual plan by concerned departments on total demand of food in the country, its production and import, according to an official of the CA's office.
CPD Executive Director Debapryia Bhattacharya made a power-point presentation titled 'Prices of Daily Essentials, a diagnostic study of present trends'.
After the presentation, a number of suggestions and proposals were discussed and given importance, including institutionalising and streamlining market surveillance and intelligence to gather market information and increasing import level through increasing financial support by commercial banks to importers, particularly small importers.
The suggestions also include government's early preparation to provide seed, fertiliser and irrigation facilities and credit for harvesting Aman paddy, preparation of national food demand, supply-and-import balance sheet, widening initiatives of open market sale (OMS) by BDR and others concerned, and developing producers association with the cooperation of micro-finance institutions and NGOs to build up linkage between producers and consumers.
The discussion also focused on taking necessary arrangement from now on, ahead of Ramadan, for making import through identifying product-specific demand-supply situation.