Bangladesh minister concedes it’s ‘difficult’ to break up price-gouging syndicate

Agriculture Minister Abdur Razzaque says the government is trying to keep the onion market stable as new Indian export duty leads to a price hike in Bangladesh

After Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi, another minister has conceded that it is “very difficult” to break up syndicates of traders behind price gouging of commodities such as onions, eggs and chicken.

Monitoring the market alone cannot ensure fair prices if supply does not match demand, Agriculture Minister Abdur Razzaque said, speaking to journalists at his office on Monday.

In June, Tipu Munshi said in Parliament that action can be taken “against syndicates”, but these measures cannot always be implemented because the government must “consider the suffering of the people”.

Before that, he has said, “We can send offenders to jail or fine them. That may be possible. But it will suddenly create a crisis, one that will be difficult for us to bear. That's why we try, through discussions, to get them to follow the rules."

Razzaque on Monday said: “We can’t control the market through monitoring alone even if we want to. It depends on demand and supply situation.”

“Prices will automatically fall if supply increases – this is the basic rule. You [journalists] ask us repeatedly why we can’t break up the syndicates. But it’s actually very difficult to break them up.”

The agriculture minister said the government was trying to keep the onion market stable, the latest concern of citizens about price rise, as new Indian export duty has led to a price hike in Bangladesh.

He said the ministry would allow importers to bring onions from China and other countries to keep the prices down. “They can start importing tomorrow if they want to.”

The minister said the government also talked to Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and urged him to consider relaxing the duty for Bangladesh as a neighbouring country.

Razzaque blamed a fall in domestic production for the situation in the onion market.

This year, the farmers have cultivated fewer onions after facing low prices last year, leading to a shortage of 200,000-250,000 tonnes, according to him.

Over the past two years, annual onion production in the country has increased by 900,000 tonnes to 3.4 million tonnes, according to the agriculture ministry.

The annual demand for onions in Bangladesh is approximately 2.8 to 3 million tonnes.

“Onion prices fall abnormally during harvest by the end of March and early April. This is the problem. And onions are perishable. If we could preserve onions properly, this problem would be solved,” Razzaque said.