Editorial
High prices during Ramadan
Govt and businessmen must apply brakes in effective manner
BARELY a day after the commerce minister announced a fixing of the prices of essentials in the market, the self-same prices shot up everywhere in the city. That says something about the stark realities citizens are faced with even as Ramadan begins today. Indeed, every experience of Ramadan for a number of years has been excruciating for people because of the abnormal rise in prices they have been put through due to a mismatch between demand and supply. However, this year the supply side has been stronger and there has been no dearth of commodities in the market. That being the case, why this rise in prices? In the first place, there is the extortion traders are subjected to as they carry their goods to their ultimate destination. In the second, there is the arbitrary fixing of prices by retail shopkeepers. Obviously, these realities raise quite a few serious questions that call for equally serious and effective answers. And they do because at this stage there is hardly any way for anyone to point the way out for citizens.
It is important that both the authorities and the business community take some urgent measures that will alleviate the sufferings of consumers. Of course, it is never good policy for governments to intervene in the market. It is important to remember that prices can never be brought under control by policing. Something of the sort was tried during the period of the last caretaker government, which turned out to be counter-productive. But the peculiarity of the situation today is that citizens of all classes have literally become hostage to the caprices of the market, all of which have led to this unbridled surge in prices. For that reason alone, it is important that the government get into a meaningful consultative dialogue with the business community, of the kind that can produce results. To be sure, such consultations have taken place earlier but without much of a fruitful result. What must now be done is for new consultations to be engaged in.
Apart from that, there is a significant role that the market committees can play through keeping tabs on demand and supply and at the same time making sure that no unscrupulous activities are indulged in by traders. They are the nodal points and a fall in prices can begin with action taken by them. The emphasis now must be on absolutely market-related factors. The yawning gap which exists between wholesale and retail prices is a situation that has to be bridged if consumers are to be given a breather.
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