Recent reports about escalating prices in many areas of the country are already painting a dismal picture for consumers this Ramadan. Every year, food prices shoot up during this month owing to laidback monitoring by the authorities concerned, making things hard for the common people.
Of course there is a rise in demand for such goods this time of the year, but the drastic price hikes do not truly reflect the increased demand. The elevated prices are often consequence of corrupt traders taking advantage of the expected rise in demand, and market manipulation. Such shameful profiteering is not only immoral, it violates the very spirit of Ramadan.
While we recognise that the government does not control commodity prices fully, they do have a responsibility to monitor market operations. Implementation of a monitoring system that could effectively protect the market against hoarders and middlemen in the supply chain is essential.
If such an operation is not put into place right away, the situation will only get worse. The authorities must remain vigilant about market manipulators, and intervene when necessary.
Like every other year, our commerce minister has repeated his assurances of keeping food prices in check. We hope this time the government takes the required steps to ensure that Bangladeshis are not cheated by fraudulent traders out to make some easy profit.