Pressure of high cost of living

THE Consumer Association of Bangladesh (CAB) has submitted its annual report on prices of essentials. It confirms our apprehensions about sky-rocketing costs of living due to a combination of factors. This only accentuated during the last two months of supply chain ruptures on account of blockades and hartals.
As a result, 2013 closed on a cost of living index showing an increase of 11 percent compared to the level of last year. As a matter of fact, vis-à-vis 2012 the increase in living costs has nearly doubled from what was 6.42 percent that year.
The calculations were pegged to a list of daily necessaries collectively labeled as consumer basket. This leaves out house rent, education, medical treatment and transportation whose costs have risen too.
The increasing gulf in incomes between the rich and the poor has had a telling effect on consumer plight. Even the loosely defined middle class is hard-put to balance its budget, most are eating into their savings or running into debts. Many are forced to slash their provisions thereby reducing calorie intake.
This dismal picture is out of sync with higher productivity. Agriculture has been hit hard through blockades that forced perishable goods to rot while the farmers of winter vegetables get paltry return on their investment.
Unless the government comes forward with rehabilitation package, a large segment of farmers may be pauperised with the consumers suffering ultimately.