The government has decided to launch an integrated market management and monitoring approach to check market manipulation and curb rising commodity prices ahead of the month of Ramadan.
Sources said that the government will take the initiative to identify the manipulators who are controlling the prices of rice, flour, oil, sugar, potatoes, onions, beef, eggs, and poultry products. At the same time, it has been decided to establish a strict precedent for the legal system in some cases to control the prices of goods.
The decision was taken at an emergency inter-ministerial meeting in the meeting room of the Ministry of Finance yesterday evening, with Finance Minister Abul Hasan Mahmud Ali in the chair.
Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumdar, Agriculture Minister Abdus Shahid, Fisheries and Livestock Minister Abdur Rahman, Commerce State Minister Ahsanul Islam Titu, Bangladesh Bank Governor Abdur Rauf Talukdar, NBR Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmantul Munim, and other high officials were present at the meeting, which was initiated at the direction of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
During the discussion, the ministers said there is no shortage of commodities and no complications in the Letter of Credit (LC) settlement. Therefore, strict action will be taken for any manipulation.
The meeting was necessary to determine the strategy to increase the supply of daily commodities in the country's open market, to prevent the manipulation of hoarders and syndicates, and to quickly find ways to control commodity prices by importing essential commodities.
In the meeting, it was decided to analyze the demand along with the production and import situation of various products, identify the shortage, and ease the procedure for the import of goods to meet the shortage before Ramadan.
At the end of the meeting, the finance minister said integrated market management will be launched soon. Strict monitoring will continue alongside this, he added.
All agencies concerned of the country will work to prevent any chaos in the market, he said, adding that there is no shortage of any kind of product in the country.
State Minister for Commerce Ahsanul Islam Titu said: “We have finance, agriculture, fisheries, industries, and home ministries with us. Besides, there is Bangladesh Bank and NBR as well. We will coordinate with all of them in the future.”
