Abu Saleh Mohammad Imran, trade adviser (joint controller) at the Commerce Ministry's price review and forecast cell, has urged the media not to create needless panic over commodity prices. He said the media tend to use phrases such as "the sting of onions", "the heat of chillies" or "trickery over rice", which often cause unnecessary alarm among people.

"Some panic is created irrationally, and we notice it from the Commerce Ministry," he said. "To deal with this panic we have to move a little away from traditional ideas."

He was speaking on Tuesday, 1 September, at a meeting with traders organised by the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) at Motijheel in Dhaka, aimed at keeping stocks, supply, imports and prices of essential goods stable. Traders from various sectors took part, and FBCCI administrator Md Fazlul Haque presided.

On rice prices and demand, Imran said market analysis cannot consider only bringing prices down. Decisions must take into account production, exports, foreign exchange earnings and domestic demand together. "We have to move forward taking everything into account. If producers or farmers are harmed in trying to lower the price of a product, that is not good for the country's economy either," he said.

He also described plans to use technology to control prices. The government is trying to anticipate market conditions by analysing supply and demand data with modern technology and artificial intelligence (AI), he said. "It may not be possible to say that rice prices will rise from next week. But action will be taken on the basis of advance forecasting. That way people will gradually get a positive business environment," he said.

Addressing the media, the official said the Commerce Ministry now gives more importance to "controlling" prices than to "reducing" them. The government's aim is to keep prices reasonable while ensuring a business-friendly environment for traders.

Journalists at the event reacted angrily to his remarks. They said that deciding which words the media write or should write is not the job of a Commerce Ministry official, who should instead be controlling prices. FBCCI administrator Md Fazlul Haque later expressed regret over the incident.

Imran also said no country can develop unless its business community has a strong backbone, and that joint efforts by traders and the government are needed to keep prices at reasonable and expected levels as well as to reduce them. "The job of traders is to make a profit. If those same traders hold meetings to bring prices down, that is encouraging for us. We are all together. Something good lies ahead for Bangladesh," he said. Describing prices as a long-standing source of public anxiety, he said the business community, as well as the government, has a role in easing it.

He said the antiquated notion that traders are bad, or that anyone with money is bad, is very harmful to the nation. "If a country's business community does not have a strong backbone, no progress is possible in that country at all, let alone on prices."

On beef prices, he said the aim cannot only be to cut prices; the interests of farmers and producers must also be considered. "If you say prices must come down by any means, only down, then what happens to the millions of marginal farmers in the country who raise cattle and have taken loans from banks or NGOs? If a large part of the population is harmed, the country is harmed," he said.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.