Sky-rocketing prices

By all indications, it has been more a matter of market manipulation than a phenomenon of demand and supply. Disturbingly, it's been revealed that market manipulation could have been the handiwork of a powerful business coterie linked to the ruling party. The whole thing is like a scam to siphon off windfall profits taking advantage of Ramadan. There was also an intelligence report on a game to be played around onion prices. If that be so, then the government's failure in protecting consumer interests would be proportional to the free play that a segment of ruling party businessmen indulged in to make enormous profits.

The price hike at this phase of the holy month of Ramadan is unusual by past standards. Instead of playing a blame game or chasing 'culprits', imagined or real, the government would do well to work out a clear-cut policy in order to put a halt to the rapidly increasing prices. Trading offences against each other within the government or transferring responsibilities to someone else wouldn't make matters any better. We are still awaiting a coherent official policy statement on the matter. We hope the government will take note of this and spell out a strategy to alleviate the plight of common people who have been hit the hardest by the price hike.

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