The consignments of onions from India are expected to arrive in the country within 2-3 days, State Minister for Commerce Mr Ahsanul Islam Titu said on Sunday.
"Onions have already boarded on trains which will arrive through Darshana," he said at a seminar on "Impact of syndicate and competition on price of essentials" in the city.
International Business Forum of Bangladesh (IBFB) organised the seminar at its office in Tejgaon Industrial area, with its President Humayun Rashid in the chair.
Senior Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh was the special guest while Dr. Mohammad Helal Uddin Ahmed, a professor of the Department of Economics at University of Dhaka, presented the keynote paper.
The state minister said the import of onions would help stabilise the market though there had been a tendency for price hikes following the news of India's extension of export ban. "We shall distribute the onion at a reasonable price," he added.
Mr Titu also said there is no perfection in the market dynamics. "But when the government detects any unscrupulous behaviour, it takes necessary action."
The government provides support to the poor through programmes like TCB cards for 10 million families, he said, highlighting the government support for the poor who are badly affected by the high inflation.
Bangladesh Competition Commission Member Hafizur Rahman, Director General of the Directorate of National Consumers' Right Protection (DNCRP) A.H.M. Shafiquzzaman, Former Secretary to the Government and Chairman of NBR Dr. Muhammad Abdul Mazid, Legal Economist & the IBFB Vice President M.S. Siddiqui also spoke at the event among others.
Dr. Helal Uddin Ahmed said there are huge allegations of market syndications while the government is trying to address them.
It is not easy to directly say that only the syndication is responsible for exorbitant prices of commodities, he said, adding that there are differences between the price levels and price fluctuations.
"As people's incomes are not increasing proportionately with the price fluctuations, they are concerned with the price-level changes," he added.
According to his presentation, the trends in the global food price index since 2000 reveals that it roughly tripled in the world, whereas it increased by five times in Bangladesh.
Giving a highlight on the IBFB's activities, its President Humayun Rashid said that since many days it has become a tradition that prices of essentials increase during Ramadan.
The prices of many items including sugar, soybean oil, rice, potato and dates have marked a significant rise in the last several years, he added.
Identifying some challenges, he suggested controlling black money as invested in the commodities markets, prevention of extortion, improving supply chain, distribution system and ensuring strong coordination among the ministries concerned to help prevent syndication and stabilise the market.
DNCRP chief Shafiquzzaman said that somehow some economic theories apparently don't work in Bangladesh's commodities market.
"There is a strong need for educating consumer behaviour. Also data availability of the market demand and production of different commodities is vital," he added.
Dr Abdul Mazid said there should be studies to gauge the impact of taxation on tax rate changes six months before imposing the tax.
Despite tax increases, fruits are continuously being imported even though there are good sales of them indicating that there are capable consumers, he said.
"Actually income inequality is now a big problem in the country," he said.
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