To add to the woes, the government´s inefficiency in formulating a price policy to monitor price of essential commodities is also one of the major reasons behind the skyrocketing price of the essential commodities in the market. [break]
"It has been more than two years that the government had planned to introduce a price control policy to fix the price of essential commodities based on production cost, purchase price and legitimate profit margin. It was supposed to focus on regional level monitoring mechanism, but nothing of the sort has been done so far. The monopoly of some importers over price is one of the key reasons for the surge in price of most essential food items," Pabitra Bajracharya, president of Nepal Retailers Association, said.
When inquired about the proceedings of the price control policy, Department of Commerce (DoC) responded saying that it has submitted the draft of the policy to the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies and is awaiting its nod. The department has prepared the draft of the price control policy six months ago. If brought into effect, the proposed policy provides for a ration card to the people living below the poverty line and also to review food subsidy policy.
The price of commodities such as various rice varieties has gone up in the range of Rs 3 to Rs 5 per kilogram in a month.
Similarly, the price of sunflower edible oil, mustard oil and soybean oil has also gone up in the range of Rs 7 to Rs 8 per liter. Other commodities such as sugar, refined flour, beaten rice, gram and peas have also seen significant price rise over the period.
Pokhreli rice which was a month ago selling at Rs 50 per kg has become dearer by Rs 5 per kg. Price of Indian Basmati, Jira Masino rice has also gone up by Rs 3 per kg to Rs 5 per kg. The price of gram has climbed up to Rs 110 per kg from Rs 80 per kg and sugar is selling at Rs 80 per kg from Rs 65 per kg recorded a month ago. Likewise, Mas dal (split black gram) has also become expensive by Rs 10 per kg and is selling at Rs 130 per kg from Rs 120 per kg a month ago.
There is a very slim chance for the prices to go down as the government has failed to implement price monitoring effectively, followed by failure to import these commodities.
Bajracharya further added that a smooth supply of commodities and a clear policy on a legitimate profit margin for retailers can help curb price rise to a large extent.
Related story
Eating junk food is bad for health!
