Editorial
Price monitoring by FBCCI
Lessons learnt should be applied without ado
THE president and other office bearers of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) have in the last few days been touring city markets and monitoring prices of essential goods. And what they have to report certainly does not make anyone happy. They have informed us that they have noticed significant differences in the prices of the same goods in retail shops at different city markets. As an instance, prices in Shyambazar vary widely from those in Karwan Bazar. The FBCCI leaders, who had earlier taken it upon themselves to help keep prices under control, are now clearly exasperated at the unbridled way in which retailers have been selling goods to already suffering consumers. They have noted that they have no network wide enough to keep markets countrywide under surveillance and therefore little influence over retailers.
Obviously, therefore, we now have a situation where a sense of desperation has come into people unable to cope with price increases, especially in the on-going month of Ramadan. It has become clear by now that none of the measures and no amount of threats or cajoling have so far been effective in curbing prices or keeping them under control. So what needs to be done now is for a mechanism-cum-vigilance system to be so devised so as to ensure a proper and regular monitoring of prices. But, of course, such monitoring will aim at plumbing the depths of the price rise factor. In this connection, one can look back at the past, where the practice of putting up price lists at all markets, under the supervision of municipalities, was in vogue. At the same time, inspectors appointed by the authorities regularly made the rounds of markets as a way of keeping a check on unscrupulous market practices. Perhaps the time has arrived when such measures need to be in place once more. One way of going about the job is to ensure that wholesalers issue money receipts to those retailers they sell their goods to. Such receipts as well as the price lists must then be open to inspection in order to ensure that no manipulation or maneouvering undermines the buying and selling of essential items.
Finally, let it be made clear that a daily inspection of urban markets has now become a necessity. Let the practice be set and there is a good chance that some good will come of it. But let us also resist the temptation of utilising the services of the joint forces in handling market prices. Such methods not only create panic but also go against the rules of business.
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