Editorial
FBCCI's good counsel
Traders need to pay heed
Nothing like the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) urging its constituents not to make 'extra profit' during the month of fasting. It has appealed to the businessmen to be imbued with a sense of social commitment and responsibility to keep the profit margin at a minimal level. Their exhortative counsel welcome as it is, we would expect they take upon themselves some of the responsibility of ensuring consumer-friendly market behaviour. As well as playing a monitoring role as the apex body the FBCCI should be in constant touch with the representatives of the associations of wholesale and retail networks for any market correction needed to attain the objective of containing price jacking.
The case in point is the negotiated retail price of edible oil between the government and the oil refiners' association which is being disregarded by the retailers. The manufacturers' association takes the view that organisationally it can only monitor the price in the wholesale market. It is difficult to oversee the activities of over two lakh retail oil sellers by them. The retailers' association should be held to account by some mechanism to be devised by the FBCCI.
In pricing the essentials the trading community can think of spreading their profits thin and yet get handsome returns during Ramadan when the demand for a wide range of consumer items doubles. They should conscientiously avoid windfalls to gain popular esteem, especially against the backdrop of inflationary erosion of purchasing power of the common people and in due deference to the hardship they are undergoing due to flood effects.
That is as far as the trading community goes. What about the role of the government? We share the FBCCI's concern over 'questions being asked by the banks during the opening of Letter of Credit (L/C) and depositing and withdrawing money from the banks'. This infuses a sense of fear in the business community impacting ultimately on the supply chain. Businessmen need to be encouraged by the FBCCI to bring up specific cases of harassment to be taken up with the government for remedial action. Overall, we have to put in place some tangible confidence-building measures for the rather shriveled business community rather than verbalising assurances from time to time.
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