Market monitoring should protect consumers, producers alike

The interests of both consumers and producers of goods, including essential food commodities, need to be kept in mind during market monitoring, said Salehuddin Ahmed, finance and commerce adviser to the interim government, today.
While there will be regular market monitoring to prevent supply and price manipulation to safeguard consumers, it is also important to ensure that producers get their fair share of returns, he said.
The interim government is committed to cracking down on price manipulators and district administrations have already been instructed to intensify monitoring to end the malpractices, he said.
Prices of essential goods have started to decrease and are expected to fall further soon. To this end, some initiatives, such as a reduction in duties on potato and onion imports to 15 percent and 5 percent, respectively, are already underway, he said.
Ahmed urged all stakeholders to keep an eye on not only Karwan Bazar in Dhaka but also other major marketplaces across the country to get a more comprehensive view of price trends.
He made the remarks while speaking to journalists after a meeting at the Bangladesh Institute of Governance and Management (BIGM) in Dhaka.
When asked about ongoing labour unrest at various garment factories, he said discussions were being held among factory owners, workers and political parties to restore stability. He expressed optimism that the talks would help ease tensions.
On issues related to the financial sector, Ahmed said that the interim government had targeted serious offenders.
The authorities have already frozen bank accounts of several individuals and investigations are underway, which would determine the next course of action, he said.
“If allegations are found to be true through the investigations, they will be prosecuted,” he said.
The finance adviser was also asked about the National Board of Revenue’s (NBR) September 2 decision on scrapping a provision that allowed whitening black money and avoiding any further scrutiny about the income source by paying a flat 15 percent tax.
He said the government would ensure punitive measures against people who have undisclosed income.