It is highly unlikely that parliamentarians will be debating the growing gap between price and tax-based increases and people's income anymore. Any budget worth its salt should, as a prime concern, assuage the financial pinch of the increased cost of living. While there are some obvious impacts due to geo-political conflict that just can't be managed, there have been no answers to the inexplicable increases in the price of daily essentials.
The Trading Corporation of Bangladesh runs a sales campaign to deliver the basics to roughly ten million people; it has been poorly managed insofar as crucial staples -- namely vegetables -- are concerned. The middle and lower middle income, especially those on fairly fixed budgets, have moved further and further into tightening belts and purse strings. Purchases have been halved and quartered driven by the abomination of choking supplies by traders. A woefully short-staffed group of Consumer Rights Directorate waded into action during festivals and the ensuing astronomical price climbs, but their punitive actions were close to laughable.
The current Parliament is more of a platform for trumpeting accolades rather than debate. Few ministers have come under the cosh and cut sorry figures while speaking publicly or to the media. Periodically, there are cycles of absurdly rocketing prices of commodities that defy the imagination -- from the staple rice to cooking oil, veggies, sugar, ginger, and condiments it continues unbridled. Onion prices dropping like flies, as soon as it was announced that imports would take place, is one in question.
The agriculture minister kindly let it be known that even farmers were hoarding the item in search of higher prices. That is an inevitability when nothing is done to rein in despicable businessmen. Earlier, within days of strong assertion that fertilizer prices wouldn't be increased, he was left eating humble pie as the National Board of Revenue brushed it aside and placed a Tk5 premium.
Prior to this it was sugar, edible oil, broiler chickens, and many more commodities where businesses made a killing. The government was either unable or unwilling to take them to task for all the fire and brimstone threats that ended up as whimpers. Eight long years after the last adjustment, income tax-free earning levels have been raised from Tk300,000 to Tk350,000. It can be risky to laugh out loud but no one pointed out the sheer inefficiency of such a ceiling where per capita earning has gone up significantly in ten years.
Those that scratch their heads at such figures often do reality checks on wallets, purses, and pockets. A more generous income tax ceiling could have been more than covered by clamping windfall gain taxes on errant businesses groups. There were more than the usual parleys with businesses over profiteering. Little was spent in seeking ideas to take in tax from the grey economy, finance ministers have tried it before but the government backbone wasn't firm enough to force a flat tax on shops that continue to operate and claim they don't make money.
In the wake of a disempowered citizenry, the government has proceeded merrily down the path of tax on tax, advancing income tax that is adjusted not refunded and in self contradiction going against the avowed promise of adjusting commodity prices in line with international ones. Fuel is one glaring example but there are others as well. The inability, or unwillingness, to really rock the boat of middle/man regimes isn't helping. Nor are parliamentarians that would have us believe that the prices of essentials are within tolerable levels.
Mahmudur Rahman is a writer, columnist, broadcaster, and communications specialist.