Clicky
Editorial

Surge in rice price

It’s time to intensify market monitoring


Bangladeshpost
Published : 27 Sep 2020 08:32 PM

Despite having sufficient quantity of rice in stock, the price of rice remained on constant rise over the last week. Unscrupulous traders have hiked the rice price to make the market volatile under the very nose of the authorities concerned. 

This periodic rice crisis is indeed artificial in nature, created by opportunist traders and millers who tighten supply lines during critical period to push prices higher and make a mint in the process. 

As reported by this daily on Sunday, a section of unscrupulous mill owners and wholesalers have slowed down the supply of all varieties of rice leading to an implausible price escalation.

It needs no emphasising that there is no credible reason behind the spiralling of rice price as the last season had witnessed a bumper rice production across the country. 


Authorities  concerned should take prompt actions 

against the  mill owners  who are hiking the rice 

price  to serve their petty monetary  interests.


But, the prices of fine varieties of rice remained high over the last week in the city’s kitchen markets. Reportedly, following onion price hike, the price of all varieties of rice in the market has gone up by an average of Tk 5 per kilogram (kg).

Millers claim that the sudden deficit in the supply of paddy in the market has pushed up the price of rice. On the other hand, the food ministry said there is no logic behind rice price hike as adequate paddy and rice of Boro and Aus varieties are available at farmer and trader levels and the government stick in enough to meet the demands. 

We are told that by creating an artificial crisis before the arrival of Aman paddy, a section of traders are trying to line their own pockets from the rice market. 

In view of the situation, authorities concerned should take prompt actions against the mill owners who are hiking the rice price to serve their petty monetary interests. 

It is time to intensify the present market monitoring in order to restrain unscrupulous traders from making extra profits by artificially increasing the price. Also, millers and wholesale traders across the country should not engage in any kind of trickery to surge the rice price.