The New Nation - Internet Edition

Shahidul Islam

Where has the imported rice gone? And what is the rational behind the soaring price of the food grains through which unscrupulous traders have illegally pocketed Tk 900 crore by triggering panic in the market after the Eid-ul-Azha?

These questions were posed by some experts yesterday comparing the soaring price spiral of rice in the retail market, the official statistics about domestic stock and the record growth of import of the staple food during the first six months of the current fiscal (2007-2008) year.

Most of them are supportive of Army Chief General Moeen U Ahmed allegation that the unscrupulous traders and hoarders pocketed Tk 900 crore after the Eid-ul-Azha through illegally tampering market price. The Army Chief made the allegation on Saturday while speaking at the Conference of Representatives of the Local Government Institutions in the capital.

The experts said according to the latest Bangladesh Bank statistics nearly 9.5 lakh (0.95 million) metric tonnes (MT) of rice were imported during July-December period of 2007 compared to that of 1.73 lakh MTs imported during the corresponding period of the previous calendar year.

Rice import, thus, recorded a 443.35 per cent growth in terms of quantity over that of the corresponding period of the previous year.

The Government has repeatedly said it has enough food, the market could be feed till June (this year) and the major paddy harvest of Boro and IRRI would be completed in April and May. Besides, there is paddy to the farmers’ household of most areas of the country after the Aman crop harvest, Secretary of the Ministry of Food and Disaster Management Mohammd Aiyub Mian said yesterday.

“There was no reason for such price hike of rice,” he said, adding that there should have been natural rice and wheat stock to the private traders and millers.

Noted economist Prof Dr Atiur Rahman said a nexus among the unscrupulous traders, hoarder and millers might be responsible for the recent rice-price havoc.

He pointed out that the price was manipulated in a calculated manner through spreading panic that a food crisis was imminent. They were successful to create panic under plea of repeated crop failure due to the two consecutive floods and the devastating Cyclone Sidr, price hike in the international market, including the sudden price hike by India.

He wondered that there was no effect on price of rice in the retail market despite the regular news of reduction of price in the wholesale market during the last few days.

Retailers are complaining that they were not able to collect rice from wholesale market at the reduced rate, which is being reported everyday, as the nexus is still active, Dr Atiur observed.

A senior official of the Bangladesh Bank has questioned rationale of price spiral in domestic market as the average cost of a tonne of rice imported during July-December period of 2007 was US $316, exactly US $184 less than that of the latest Indian price.

As no letter of credit (LC) has so far been opened for the import of rice at $500 per metric tonne fixed by the Indian authorities on a few days back (on December 27), there is no rational for the sudden rise of price in the domestic market.

He, however, acknowledged that the import of rice witnessed a rise by 728.16 per cent, in term of value, to $296.98 million during the period compared with $35.86 million of the same period of the previous year.

The wheat import declined to 830,000 tonnes in the period compared to 988,000 tonnes imported during the same period of the previous year while import of edible oils came down to 525,000 tonnes from 578,000 tonnes, he added.