Govt agencies fail to control prices ahead of Eid: CAB

Though the people are reeling from the price hike of essentials, the government agencies concerned could not reign in the prices ahead of the Eid, said Consumers Association of Bangladesh.

"The Ukraine-Russia war and the Covid-19 are blamed for inflation, but this is partially true," CAB President Ghulam Rahman said at a virtual press conference yesterday.

He said different countries have taken various measures, including cutting government expenditures and controlling interest rates, to control inflation, but such steps have not been taken in Bangladesh.

Rather, the government borrowed about Tk 70,000 crore from the central bank in the last 11 months, the CAB chief said.

"According to economists, borrowing from the central bank leaves a five-fold impact on the market, meaning the supply of money increases by five times … Borrowing from the central bank to make up the budget deficit is one of the main reasons for inflation," he said.

The CAB made 12 recommendations for reigning in the uncontrolled market situation.

It suggested the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection take steps to make wholesalers and retailers display prices at visible places.

The CAB asked the ministers concerned to collect information on production, procurement, demand and supply of essentials.

It asked the government to fix import, wholesale and retail prices of essentials and implement those prices strictly, show "zero tolerance" against hoarders and syndicates involved in creating an artificial crisis, and make modern agriculture-related technologies affordable to farmers.

The organisation also suggested the government put emphasis on the increase of mustard farming as an alternative to soybean, provide incentive to farmers to meet protein demand, take necessary steps to sell sugar at fixed prices and equip the public organisations concerned to ensure proper monitoring of markets.

The CAB recommended the government take measures to stop illegal toll collection on roads and speed up the release of perishable items from ports.