THE government’s failure to reach benefits of the decline in food prices on the international market for the fifth consecutive months to consumers is unacceptable. Food prices have, keeping to the Food and Agriculture Organisation food price index that tracks the monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities, been falling on the international market steadily since they hit an all-time high in March after the Russia-Ukraine war began. Export resumption from Ukraine under a special arrangement has brought down the prices of wheat and other products while fuel oil prices, which reached a record high in March and continued to remain high for four subsequent months, have also fallen significantly to almost pre-war levels. The government appears to have largely failed to reach benefits of the international price decline to consumers. Although the government has taken various measures to rein soaring prices of goods by reducing import duties and setting prices, it has not been able to save the market from being manipulated by profit mongers. The government has, for an example, reduced duty on the import of rice, but the price has remained unchanged.

The government has also decided to set prices of nine essential goods, including rice, coarse flour, red lentils, edible oils and sugar. The commerce minister on August 30 announced the measure to keep prices of essential goods within the reach of the poor and fixed-income people. The decision was made at a time when soaring goods prices have made the economic survival of the poor and fixed-income people extremely difficult. What is worrying is that each of similar measure taken earlier has failed as the government could not ensure regular market monitoring and make traders follow the set prices. Prices of edible oils increased again by Tk 3–5 a litre in the past week despite the government having set the prices. Market experts say that the decision to centrally control prices of essential goods is necessary, given the volatility of the market, but the main challenge for the government is to ensure an effective enforcement of the decision. The commerce minister earlier acknowledged the failure of the government in keeping the market stable and that a section of traders was keeping the market unstable out of profiteering interests. The government conducted episodic drives and, in isolated incidents, fined traders for charging more than the prices set, but everything went back to square one.

The downward revision of prices of essential goods, in the wake of the decline in prices of such goods on the international market, is what is needed. The government must at the same time attend to its own failures in market control, corruption in the system and take action against the syndicate responsible for making the market unstable.