With the 2024 national election approaching, the Bangladesh Awami League has unveiled its election manifesto, titled ‘Smart Bangladesh: Unnoyon Drisshoman, Barbe Ebar Kormoshongsthan’ (Development Visible, Accelerating Employment). The manifesto outlines the party’s vision and goals for the next five years, covering eleven key areas. The number one priority and urgency in the manifesto (out of the 11 special priority focus points highlighted) is the control of commodity prices.
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Commodity prices are the prices of essential goods and services that people use widely, such as food, fuel, electricity, and healthcare. These prices have a direct impact on the living standards, consumption patterns, and inflation rates of the country. Hence, controlling commodity prices is vital for ensuring economic stability and social welfare.
The Awami League’s Legacy of Price Control
The Awami League has a long-standing record of implementing policies and measures to control commodity prices and safeguard the interests of the consumers. The party has followed a market-oriented and liberalized trade policy since the 1990s, which has exposed the economy to foreign competition and investment. This policy has helped Bangladesh achieve remarkable economic growth and poverty reduction in the last three decades.
The party has also employed various instruments of price control, such as subsidies, tariffs, taxes, quotas, and regulations, to affect the supply and demand of commodities in the domestic market. For instance, the government has subsidized rice, wheat, sugar, edible oil, and other essential items for the poor and vulnerable sections of society. It has also cut or removed duties and taxes on the imports of these items to make them cheaper and more accessible. Moreover, the government has enforced restrictions and penalties on hoarding, profiteering, and adulteration of commodities to avoid market manipulation and ensure fair trade practices.
Challenges Faced by the Ukraine War and the COVID-19 Pandemic
However, the Awami League’s efforts to control commodity prices have been challenged in recent years due to the external shocks of the Ukraine war and the COVID-19 pandemic. These shocks have disturbed the global supply chains and trade flows, resulting in a surge in the international prices of commodities, particularly oil and food.
The Ukraine war, which broke out in 2021, has turned into a full-blown conflict between Russia and the Western allies. The war has inflicted heavy damage to the infrastructure and production of Ukraine, one of the world’s biggest exporters of wheat, corn, and sunflower oil. The war has also sparked economic sanctions and counter-sanctions between the warring parties, affecting the trade and financial relations of many countries, including Bangladesh.
The COVID-19 pandemic, which started in 2020, also had a disastrous effect on the global economy and public health. The pandemic has compelled many countries to impose lockdowns and travel restrictions, which have hindered the movement of goods and people across borders. The pandemic has also diminished the income and purchasing power of millions of people, especially in the developing countries, where the social safety nets are weak or nonexistent.
Bangladesh, a net importer of oil and food, faces inflationary pressure and higher import bills due to the shocks caused by the Ukraine war and the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics reported that the headline inflation rate reached 6.17 percent in February 2022, the highest level since October 2020. The prices of edible oil, sugar, eggs, and other items pushed the food inflation rate to 6.58 percent, while the non-food inflation rate stood at 5.67 percent, reflecting the rising costs of fuel, electricity, and healthcare.
The government has responded to these challenges by taking various steps to stabilize commodity prices and make them affordable for the people. These steps include:
- Importing more essential commodities from different sources and diversifying the import basket
- Offering subsidies and cash assistance to low-income and vulnerable groups to help them with their consumption and livelihoods
- Lowering or eliminating the tariffs and taxes on the imports of essential commodities to reduce their prices and increase their supply
- Simplifying the import restrictions and procedures to ensure the smooth and timely clearance of imported goods
- Reinforcing the market monitoring and enforcement mechanisms to curb hoarding, profiteering, and adulteration of commodities and to enforce fair trade practices
The Awami League’s Future Plans for Price Control
The government recognizes that the commodity price situation is still volatile and uncertain, as the Ukraine war and the COVID-19 pandemic have not been resolved yet. Therefore, the Awami League’s 2024 election manifesto reiterates the party’s commitment to guarantee universal purchasing power and economic stability for the people of Bangladesh.
The manifesto declares that the party will maintain a market-oriented and liberalized trade policy, which has been beneficial for the country’s economic growth and development. However, the party will also balance this policy with suitable interventions and regulations to safeguard the interests of the consumers and the producers.
The manifesto also specifies some concrete measures that the party will implement to control commodity prices and tackle the issues and challenges that the country confronts in this area. These measures are:
- Setting up a Price Commission to ascertain the fair prices of essential commodities and to oversee and regulate the market activities
- Creating a Commodity Price Index to gauge and track the changes in the prices of essential commodities and to guide policy decisions
- Boosting the domestic production and storage capacity of essential commodities, especially food and fuel, to lessen the reliance on imports and to secure food and energy security
- Encouraging the use of renewable and alternative sources of energy, such as solar, wind, and biogas, to cut down the consumption and import of fossil fuels and to minimize the environmental impacts of energy production
- Upgrading and expanding the public distribution system and the social safety net programs to provide subsidized and quality commodities to the poor and vulnerable sections of the society
- Encouraging the use of digital and mobile technologies to improve the efficiency and transparency of the commodity trade and to reduce the transaction costs and intermediaries
- Strengthening the regional and international cooperation and dialogue to resolve the conflicts and disputes that affect the global commodity markets and to promote the free and fair trade of commodities
Building a ‘Smart Bangladesh’ is the main goal of the Awami League, as stated in their 2024 election manifesto. They want to ensure that people have a high quality of life and a low cost of living. To do this, they have to address the commodity price issue, which is crucial and complex for the economy and society. They claim to have the knowledge and the skills to deal with this issue and to keep their promises. But they also admit that there are many obstacles and risks in achieving their objectives because the commodity price situation is influenced by many things that they cannot control. So, they have to be ready to adjust their policies and strategies and to cooperate with the stakeholders and the partners to reach their goals.
