The much awaited industrial policy announced recently at a press conference by the Minister of Industries has been widely acclaimed and termed pragmatic in the context of the global economic developments and changes. Market competition and thereby market economy are the order of the day. Adoption of this concept in the East European countries Including the Soviet Union and also our neighbour India bears adequate confidence of the adopters In free market economy. in revitalising their economy shattered by the age old socialistic/state controlled economic system which failed to deliver the goods.
Though some steps were taken previously in this direction in our country, yet a lot remains to be done. Import and export freedoms are a prerequisite for a workable free market system coupled with the freedom to invest/set up industries in any sector. We still have some sectors reserved for public sector investment only and a list of goods whose import/export are controlled/banned.
Petroleum oil and lubricants are not in the reserved list yet the import/export of petroleum products and lubricants barring crude oil, lubricating oil additives, liquid paraffin have still been restricted to the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation, owned by the government, following an arbitrary cabinet decision taken In 1985 by the autocratic past government. Not only is this flouting the declared policy, but the essence and substance of the Petroleum Act of 1974 and the BPC Ordinance of 1976 have been twisted to cover lubricating oils and give the BPC exclusivity in its import notwithstanding the fact that the Petroleum Act of 1974 does not apply to lubricants since it does not occur naturally within the exploration zone covered by the act nor does the ordinance under which the BPC came into existence give this exclusivity to the corporation which, according to the ordinance, Is a company like any other company whether private or government owned
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under the Companies Act.
Bestowing the corporation with such unilateral protectionism. much against the universal trend of market economy strongly professed by the government, is beyond comprehension particularly when one compares the petroleum operations/marketing within the country to that tn other countries. Even the USA/EEC/ Canada/Australia etc who are industrially developed and worldpowers both economically and militarily, leave the Petroleum. Oil and lAibricants (POL) operations to market economy with a buffer stock maintenance for emergency situations. If market economy in their case has been able to ensure a reliable supply of petroleum products and that too in very large quantities. one fails to understand why this should not work here particularly when one recalls the fact that POL operations In this country were tn the private sector since the 1950's till the 1980's (early part). Market economy benefits the consumer who pays the price based on competitive market mechanism and not based on a arbitrarily fixed basis with a build-In cushion for Inefficiency. The people of the country have been paying a very high price for POL products and the difference between this price realised from the consumer and the cost incurred in its importation and distribution by the BPC have been boldly shown as operating profit of the corporation and deposited to the national exchequer with kudos claiming the operating success of the corporation at the expense of the whole country and its poor captive customers. If ah analysis of the effects of this arbitrary pricing of POL products resulting from the monopolistic activities of BPC on the na tlonal economy are anal-ysed/studied. economists would be stunned at the economic loss the nation is unwittingly Incurring.
Market economy concept has been Introduced In many sectors of the economy in our country with a salutary effect. These include the readymade garments sector, frozen fish export, tea. cement, edible oil.
sugar, salt, pharmaceuticals, fertilizers, etc. The marketing and distribution of fertilizers within the country till mid March 1989 was monopoly of BADC. Thereafter, initially marketing of urea fertilizer was opened to the private sector on an equal footing with the BADC. The success of this operation and the resultant savings to the Government as well as benefits to the farmers in terms of availability, lower price and customer service encouraged the Government to permit private sector to distribute fertilizers Imported by . BADC and eventually Import the same. Recently fertilizer imports have also ben successfully done by the private ferula izer distributors. If what ha / been achieved by the private sector in the fertilizer sector is some indication of their capability. resultant as a direct outcome of market economy implemented by BADC in unison with other agencies, perhaps its time that the BPC takes a similar attitude in the greater national interest, since oil Is a prime mover of the national economy, without which Industrialisation will be a far cry.
The annual turnover in the fertiliser sector in Bangladesh at the wholesale level is approximately ' Tk 1200 crores whilst at the retailers level at -the farmsites approximately Tk 1300 crores growing an-nually at the rate of some 10 to 12 per cent. This Is today being done by the private sector and in terms of value it is very close to the annual turnover of the POL sector.
The above Is Just one example of market economy. Let all those tn authority and those interested tn economic development of the country powfer for a while and translate the policy of the government into reality. There is no harm in being late, but remaining indifferent knowingly is a crime for which those responsible should be taken to task. Let. like other sectors of the economy. petroleum, oil and lubricants be in the free sector. In practice, with operations/ marketing / import / export completely decontrolled.
A Reader Shantinagar, Dhaka