Govt wants to break oligopoly, monopoly: Minister
He says ‘competition law’ to be passed during budget session
Dhaka, May 8 (UNB) – The government wants to break the oligopoly and monopoly created in the market over the trade of major commodities like edible oil and sugar to ensure the smooth supply and justified prices of the items, the Commerce Minister said on Tuesday.
“Right now, we don’t have any stronger law to control oligopoly and monopoly…we hope the Competition Law will be passed during the budget session. It’ll help curb market manipulation and artificial crisis,” GM Quader told reporters at Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU).
DRU arranged the function, titled ‘Meet the Reporters’, at its conference room. DRU president Shakhawat Hossain Badsha and Sajjad Alam Khan Topu were present.
An oligopoly is a market dominated by a few large suppliers and a few firms selling similar products. Oligopoly firms collaborate to charge the monopoly price and get monopoly profits.
Referring to the existence of oligopoly in the domestic market, he said only a handful of businessmen control the huge market of edible oil and sugar. The size of edible oil business (per month) is over Tk 1,000 crore.
“In the case of artificial crisis and market manipulation, the government will take punishable actions once the competition law is passed by parliament.”
He admitted the failure of the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) in intervening market to check artificial crisis and unjustified prices of essentials and identified fund crisis and capacity as reasons.
On Ramadan preparation, he said the government is working to build up a sufficient stock of sugar, date, and chickpea before the holy month of Ramadan to keep the market stable.
“We’ll hire required godowns since we don’t have sufficient storage capacity. If normal supply gets hampered, we’ll go for intervention,” the Commerce Minister said.
About the government’s plan to export rice he said, “We want to export some rice, especially aromatic one, on a test case basis to help ensure the justified price for the farmers.”
He also said the government is working to enlarge the export basket and increase export destinations for the readymade garments to avert vulnerability and give a boost to export earnings.
On transit, he said the issue is yet to be finalised and things are under scrutiny at the government level.
He said the country’s overall economy is in good shape, but there are some vulnerabilities that need to be addressed carefully.
“Right now, we don’t have any stronger law to control oligopoly and monopoly…we hope the Competition Law will be passed during the budget session. It’ll help curb market manipulation and artificial crisis,” GM Quader told reporters at Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU).
DRU arranged the function, titled ‘Meet the Reporters’, at its conference room. DRU president Shakhawat Hossain Badsha and Sajjad Alam Khan Topu were present.
An oligopoly is a market dominated by a few large suppliers and a few firms selling similar products. Oligopoly firms collaborate to charge the monopoly price and get monopoly profits.
Referring to the existence of oligopoly in the domestic market, he said only a handful of businessmen control the huge market of edible oil and sugar. The size of edible oil business (per month) is over Tk 1,000 crore.
“In the case of artificial crisis and market manipulation, the government will take punishable actions once the competition law is passed by parliament.”
He admitted the failure of the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) in intervening market to check artificial crisis and unjustified prices of essentials and identified fund crisis and capacity as reasons.
On Ramadan preparation, he said the government is working to build up a sufficient stock of sugar, date, and chickpea before the holy month of Ramadan to keep the market stable.
“We’ll hire required godowns since we don’t have sufficient storage capacity. If normal supply gets hampered, we’ll go for intervention,” the Commerce Minister said.
About the government’s plan to export rice he said, “We want to export some rice, especially aromatic one, on a test case basis to help ensure the justified price for the farmers.”
He also said the government is working to enlarge the export basket and increase export destinations for the readymade garments to avert vulnerability and give a boost to export earnings.
On transit, he said the issue is yet to be finalised and things are under scrutiny at the government level.
He said the country’s overall economy is in good shape, but there are some vulnerabilities that need to be addressed carefully.
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