If the government does not halt the trend of rice price hike right now, it is very likely that price of this essential commodity may hit a new high this year. Rice price increase quickly affects the prices of other commodities making the market volatile. Some days back, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina assured the people that there is enough stock of rice and its price would remain stable this year.

She was talking about a stock of 12 hundred thousand tonnes of rice. It is usually taken by experts that if this amount of rice remains as buffer, the private traders are able to manipulate rice price. But a report of this newspaper yesterday confirmed the prime minister’s words and the country’s silos seemed to be overloaded with the grain.

Despite this situation, rice price is increasing in the market and traders have attributed the hike to the new tariff imposed on rice import in the budget proposed a few weeks ago. The budget is yet to be finally passed in the parliament and taking the new tariff as a pretext, the traders have already started fleecing the consumers.

Bangladesh’s business people as a whole, not just rice traders only, always remain on the lookout to find pretexts to increase the price of commodities. Last year, the occasion was floods in the Haor region that damaged Boro crops. There was also food ministry’s sheer failure to keep sufficient stock of rice. That is why, perhaps, the prime minister in advance assured people that there was enough stock of the grain.

But the budget has offered them an opportunity again. It is really disconcerting that despite knowing the reality that rice price is still high in the market, how could the finance minister impose fresh tariff on rice import knowing full well that it would impact the market? Or does not the finance minister feel the necessity of harnessing or even lowering the rice price?

Compared to the last year, the cost of living in the country has substantially increased. Rice price hike was alone mostly responsible for this extra pressure on the people’s pocket. If this year price of the coarse varieties of rice reaches Tk 60 per kg and finer varieties Tk. 80 as it is being speculated by concerned people including the businessmen, then this would surely make the market volatile creating again unbearable strain on the people as a whole which is not desirable.

The government, therefore, has to take steps right now and it is expected that there will be reflection of its sincere effort in passing the budget.