We are glad to see the government finally waking up to the terrible nightmare that has become an everyday reality for ordinary people. For nearly a year now, prices of almost all goods – especially the essentials – have been rising unabatedly. This rise has become particularly acute since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, pushing people from the middle-class downwards onto the brink of privation. Considering all that has happened, we are pleased to note that the prime minister herself has now directed government officials to make an all-out effort to keep prices of essential commodities stable through measures like lifting all tariffs and taxes on their imports, and taking stern action against market manipulation.

According to data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the inflation rate shot up to an eighteen-months-high of 6.29 percent in April this year which, according some economists, is actually lower than the real inflation figure. And this has been happening at a time when multitudes of people were already struggling from job and income losses due to Covid and other related factors. During this entire time, even though the government took a few decent measures – such as deploying TCB trucks to sell goods at lower prices – to try and provide some relief to the poor, they have been woefully inadequate to address the sufferings of the mass numbers of people. And despite the advice of experts and the desperate pleas of the general people to do more, the government has repeatedly displayed a lack of urgency and concern for these difficulties which have only been piling up. Therefore, it is about time the government got serious about keeping prices of essentials down.

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Does budget 2022-23 address inflation properly?

There are a host of measures that the government is reportedly considering at present. For example, the commerce ministry will facilitate imports by the private sector and monitor supply and prices in the market to limit any artificial price spiral. Private food importers will also get various kinds of support so they can easily import food grains and other essential commodities. These are steps that, if implemented properly, should ease some of the inflationary pressure. But ultimately, what the government has to do is conduct regular drives against syndicates, irrespective of their political affiliation, as instructed by the prime minister.

Unfortunately, we have heard similar instructions fall by the wayside too often in the past. As a result, politically connected and powerful traders have continued to exploit one disaster after another to artificially keep prices up, exasperating the existing inflationary crisis. The only way this can be solved is for the government to not only make good economic policy, but to follow through with them on the managerial level. And a most important part of that is to break the back of these powerful syndicates.