Taming high inflation needs to tame big businesses

In a press conference arranged by the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), the body working for protection of the rights of consumers, has brought about a charge of establishing monopoly control on the market against a few large corporate houses. That the companies do so in cohort with each other ---known as business syndicates---is an open secret. Even some ministers and the Directorate of National Consumers' Right Protection (DNCRP) have pointed their accusing fingers to such syndicates for cut-throat price hikes of some essentials targeted from time to time. But at the end of the day, the galloping horse of inflation continues without being reined in.
The CAB complains that a few businesses have taken undue advantage of an unregulated free market economy to monopolise the market. Indeed, the nature of monopoly in this country has changed radically. In the past, companies were basically monopolistic in the particular fields they traded in. With the single business of a company expanding into corporate character, their penetration in the trade in different consumer goods has become nearly all-pervasive.
However, theirs is mostly an effort marked by unethical business practices. Their mentality of outrageous profit-making and avarice prompt them to distort the capitalist market to the extent where their interests are served with help from parasites down the supply chain but at the cost of growers or farmers. There are excuses galore for hiking prices outrageously. The importers in particular who are not in the least involved with any value addition to commodities take no time to increase prices on the pretext that those commodities have become dearer in the international market. Any argument that the letters of credit (LCs) opened months before when the import cost was lower fails to deter them from raising prices. But when commodities register drastic fall in the international market, they would advance the logic of higher import cost before in favour of not bringing down prices.
In rare cases, though, such pleasantly surprising downward revision of prices takes place. For example, the prices of cooking oil like soybean and palm oil have been brought down twice recently, the latest downward revision coming this week by Tk 10 for both loose and bottled soybean and by Tk 5.0 for palm oil.
Sugar and cooking oil are imported in crude form and require refining. The change in hearts of the refiners is really laudable but for years together they have fleeced consumers and even defied the government to raise prices. If Tk10 is realised in excess of a reasonable profit margin for a kilogram or a litre of sugar or cooking oil for over a month during the festival time, the refiners pocket unearned bucks in the millions. This is what the business syndicates in this country are after more often than not.
They target commodities one after another and any deterrent in the form of a prompt response from the government or organisations like the DNCRP is hard to come by. The targeted commodities are also very common. Following rice, there was sugar and oil, then it was onion which was followed by spices remarkably on the eve of the two Eids. The syndicates simply waylay the helpless consumers when they are in a festival mood. But this time, the majority of the population here were in no mood of celebration; rather they were struggling to keep their body and soul together. But the business rapacity all the same took a heavy toll of the low income people in particular when they were at their most vulnerable.
But the syndicates have not stopped there. Their latest target is green chilli and potato. True, chilli this time of the year is short in supply but potato is not. Cheap imported Indian chilli also cannot stop the machinations. Even last year potato had no customer when farmers and small traders had to feed potato to cattle or the year before simply did not take their lots out of cold storages for sale because it would not cover the transport cost. Now what has happened this time that its price has to go up by Tk 10-15 within a month?
The explanation for such abrupt market development lies in the aggressive corporate intervention in monopolistic business of consumer goods and agricultural produce. Companies are taking over business of the staples, other food items and essential commodities with their stronger money power. What is condemnable is the fact that in most cases, they are reluctant to add value but just lend a brand name by just packing the commodities. This is unethical. If the companies entered in an agreement with growers or farmers ---as is the practice in contract farming or similar other arrangements such as are followed in mango orchards in Satkhira --- at least they would have contributed to value addition and earned a right to do the packaging. Today, there are aromatic rice varieties available in packets of different companies. Without involving themselves in the production process, they are doing this in collaboration with millers. There are other such instances where growers who ought to enjoy the reward for their toil and effort are actually denied of any benefit by the intrigues resorted to by big market players.
Laws are there to prevent market monopoly in every country. It is because of this, the bosses of Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook had to appear before the US Congress for questioning. Prevention of ill practice in businesses and ensuring accountability of big market players here can arrest the soaring inflation. This calls for enforcement of relevant laws.

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