 Written by: Mahdia Binte Zaman Recently, all of us must have come across the post captioned ‘800 takar shobji bazar’, and it’s created quite a buzz among us. This viral post, showcasing the rising cost of daily essentials, has sparked an important conversation about market manipulation. The prices we pay for basic goods are no longer just a reflection of supply and demand but are often the result of an unseen market syndicate at play. It’s almost impossible to find someone in Bangladesh today who hasn’t heard the word "syndicate" over the past 15 years. Whether it's about daily markets, any business dealings, or both government and private sector activities, the term "syndicate" has repeatedly surfaced. We've heard of the egg syndicate swindling nearly 600 million BDT or corrupt syndicates using the war as an excuse to hoard and increase the price of soybean oil, making it disappear from the market. The people of this country seem trapped by an invisible force called the syndicate. During Sheikh Hasina's government, syndicates manipulated prices, driving them higher for profit. But who exactly are these syndicates? In today’s blog, we’re diving deep to unravel the inner workings of market syndicates—how they control the flow of goods, dictate prices, and create an endless loop of exploitation. A market syndicate generally refers to a group of businesses or traders that collaborate to manipulate market prices and control the supply of essential commodities. In Bangladesh, this term has gained prominence amid rising prices and allegations of market manipulation by a few powerful importers and traders. The big dealers or retailers collect that product from such syndicates at a high price and accordingly sell the same product to the customers at a high price, adding profits per unit. Therefore, the ultimate losers are the customers or end-users who have to pay unnatural prices, thus becoming victims of this artificial market mechanism.
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 Written by: Myesha Ahmed, MD. Rohan AkonRemittances serve as a vital source of external income within an economy. In Bangladesh, the remittance rates have proved that their contribution to stabilizing the economy, balancing the balance of payments, increasing foreign exchange reserves, escalating national savings, and accelerating the velocity of money cannot be overlooked. It clearly exceeds foreign aid in significance because we can rely on our people and lessen the dependency on seeking assistance. Our focus should be more on making this sector a steady resource for aggregated success. |