Prices Of Ramadan Essentials: Jt forces’ monitoring won’t do any good

Deployment of joint forces to keep watch on the essentials market during Ramadan would not yield the desired outcome, said the president of the country's apex trade body yesterday.
Joint forces were engaged in monitoring the market during the tenure of the last caretaker government.
"Because of them, the number of big commodities businessmen has come down from 25 to 5. After a few days [if joint force is deployed], no one would be able to find these five either," said Md Jashim Uddin, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
Jashim Uddin's comment came at a dialogue organised by the Directorate of National Consumers Right Protection (DNCRP) with businesses and other stakeholders to discuss ways to curb the spiral of essential commodities.
At the discussion, two leaders of kitchen markets in Dhaka proposed engaging joint forces to contain the prices of essentials during the month of Ramadan.
"A trader cannot reduce a product's price when he sees its price rise in the international market," Uddin said at the event held at the premises of the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.
Most of the time, everyone blames the local business community for any abnormal price hike.
"Some bad businessmen increase the prices increase abnormally but the entire business community is held responsible."
Businessmen who view Ramadan as a month to bag higher profits should leave this mentality, Uddin added.
"If the commerce ministry can ensure that the dollar will not appreciate during Ramadan, we will take responsibility for ensuring that the prices of the six daily commodities do not increase during the fasting month," said Helal Uddin, president of the Bangladesh Shop Owners Association.
DNCRP has already started working to control the price of goods during Ramadan, according to its director general AHM Shafiquzzaman.
There is adequate stock of edible oil, sugar, chickpeas and dates.
"So, there is nothing to stress about the price increase of these products. There is no shortage of products, but there is a shortage of management," he added.
According to a commerce ministry paper, the import of crude soybean oil declined 47 percent, gram 21 percent and dates 3 per cent in the first half of fiscal 2022-23.
The opening of letters of credit for the import of raw sugar slumped 28 percent year-on-year to 3.75 lakh tonnes in the last quarter of 2022. It dropped 47 percent to 75,319 tonnes for chickpeas and 30 percent to 21,980 tonnes for dates.
In the case of chickpeas, it was 47 percent lower at 75,319 tonnes. For dates, it was 30 percent lower at 21,980 tonnes.
There are currently 5-6 privately-owned oil and sugar refinery mills in Bangladesh and all are under the control of the government, said Kazi Salahuddin Ahammad, senior general manager of S Alam Group.
"The process of pricing is quite transparent. It is sold according to government rules -- there is no way to bypass it," he said.
Traders blame each other for the rise in prices during Ramadan, said Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh.
"Some say refiners are charging higher prices, while some say it is the wholesale traders. Others say it is the retail traders. So, who's right? Not everyone can be right at the same time. Surely, someone is taking the opportunity. That's why the price goes up," he said.
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