People must enjoy benefits of duty cut

To boost supplies and contain prices of essential commodities during the holy month of Ramadan, the government has taken measures to alleviate the sufferings of common people by reducing value added tax (VAT) and import duties on four commodities — edible oil, sugar, dates and rice last week.

However, the impact of these measures did not come about in the market as yet.

It is shocking that the essentials, according to media reports, are neither falling, rather rising.

This defies common sense. Notably, the national Board of Revenue (NBR), the tax regulator, has slashed VAT and import duties on four essential commodities, namely rice, edible oil, sugar and date to keep their prices under control.

Earlier, the importers had to pay 63 percent tax, including VAT, on those items. Following the NBR’s order the total tax incidence has come down to 15 percent.

But in Khatunganj, a major wholesale hub for essential commodities in the port city of Chattogram, the price of sugar has gone up by Tk 50 per maund (37.65 kilogrammes) and is currently being sold at Tk 4,950 to Tk 5,000, say traders.

Similarly, the price of palm oil has increased by Tk 100 within a span of one week and is now being sold at Tk 4,950.

However, the price of edible oil and date has remained unchanged. A visit to the capital’s Karwan Bazar, one of the biggest kitchen markets in Dhaka, traders revealed that the prices of date and palm oil have increased over the past week.

Although the reduction on rice, edible oil, sugar and date was intended to benefit the people, it seems that traders and importers are reaping the benefits.

Some unscrupulous traders are manipulating the market with support of local administration due to a lack of strict law enforcement.

Had businesspeople had some empathy, people would have gained some benefit from the duty cut.

The unstrained price has forced the fixed and low income people to skimp on food and other essentials.

Just to make ends meet, they are buying less of these food items even to the detriment of the physical wellbeing of their families. This needs serious attention from the authorities concerned.

Under the circumstances, the government’s first priority should be on reaching the benefits of tax cuts on import of essentials to the benefits of ordinary people. For this, stricter monitoring of the market should continue.