Further price hike of essentials in the new year deplorable

Finance minister Tipu Munshi has said that he had been juggling with fire. We assume he meant the skyrocketing price of onion. But not only onion, but the prices of other essentials have also gone up in the recent days. The new year did not bring anything good for the common people. Rather it has brought more suffering.
If the price of a certain product increases for once in Bangladesh, it usually does not go down. India's decision to stop exporting onions to Bangladesh in last October left the latter's market volatile. From Tk 40 a kilogram, it soon jumped to as high as Tk 200. When the government started importing onions from Pakistan, China, Myanmar, Turkey and Egypt, the price started going down.
However, the price once again started to rise in the last seven days, with per kilogram price increasing around Tk 40-50. Local onions have also hit the market by this time. Analysts say there are some quarters manipulating the market. According to TCB, the prices of potato, sugar, edible oil, egg, cinnamon and flour have increased in the past week. Compared to the prices of essentials at this time last year, prices of 18 items increased while prices of only seven items went down. At the end of the last year, the price of bottled soybean oil increased by Tk 8 per litre while that of packaged sugar rose by Tk 7.
Businessmen blame the price hike of imported products on devaluation of taka against dollar. However, they have raised the price by many times compared to the increased price of dollar. They usually up the price without any reason. Small traders no longer are involved with import business, as it is mainly controlled by a few big companies. As a result, a new syndicate has been born who increase the price whenever they want.
Amid all the negative news, the respite is the fact that vegetable production has increased by one-third. According a Dhaka Tribune report, 2.67 crore tons of vegetables have been produced in the 2018-19 fiscal year, which is 26.50 lakh tons more than the previous year. However, the saddest part is that the farmers do not get due price because of poor marketing system. The egg pant a farmer in Bogura is selling at Tk 20 is being sold in Dhaka at Tk 60. This is harmful for both the producer and the consumer. The middlemen are the biggest beneficiary.
We need a better marketing system to ensure that the farmers get the due price. Special selling points are being set up in Dhaka and other areas with this aim, to let the farmers sell the products directly. This will benefit both the farmers and the consumers.