Dhaka, Jan 7, 2008: Finance Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam on Monday said that BDR would import one lakh tonnes of rice for running their sales centers. BDR will sell rice at Tk 25 a kilogram at its sales centres. With a view to easing the suffering of the common people.

Adviser Mirza Azizul mentioned that the food ministry would also import rice from international market to fulfill local demand in the rice markets.

Meanwhile price of rice is still remained high in the retail markets across the country although it declined significantly in wholesale markets during the last four days.

Some unscrupulous rice traders allegedly manipulated the rice market and took extra benefit from consumers. According to some experts, rice traders minted Tk 900 crore from the people within a short span of time by creating an artificial crisis in the markets.

According to market sources, the retailers at different kitchen markets were selling rice at high prices, as they had bought it at higher prices in the last week.

Some traders said that they could not sell rice as the number of customers declined. Some customers bought extra rice, fearing that prices might rise even further.

The price of rice further dropped for the fourth consecutive day on Monday in the city as well as the country in the wholesale markets.

Coarse rice was selling at Tk 31 to Tk 32 per kilogram in most areas of the city including Kawranbazar and Mohammadpur.

A wholesaler at Babubazar said falling demand and increased supply have forced price cuts there for the second day on Monday.

The price of coarse rice declined by around Tk 150 per 40-kg by Monday afternoon. Price of coarse rice increased by Tk 7 to Tk 8 in the last week.

Menwhile, people from all walks of life are upset at the increase in prices of rice.

Though the government has taken various measures for arresting the price hike of rice, the market is yet to see their impact.

“The government has been talking of different measures (to check the price spiral) for the last few days, but the measures have not yet had any impact on the price situation. We still have to purchase rice at exorbitantly high prices,” said a consumer.

The government said it is importing a plenty of rice and starting its open market sale (OMS) from January 9 to keep the prices within the reach of the people.

It also said a high-level government delegation is going to India this week to finalise the import of five lakh tonnes of rice. The government would also import rice from other countries like Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar.

“Multiple initiatives have been undertaken by the government, and the price of rice on the wholesale market has started to fall,” said Finance Adviser Dr Mirza Azizul Islam.

Consumers complained that the government is yet to identify the actual cause of the price hike.

Some traders in the city’s Moulvi Bazar said manmade short supply of rice is the main reason for its price hike.

While talking to reporters the finance adviser spoke of the reasons of rice price spiral.
He held price hike in the international market, businessmen’s tendency to maintain broad profit margins, erosion in business confidence and absence of coordination between demand and supply mainly responsible for the price hike of rice in the market.

 

@ The Bangladesh Journal