DUSHANBE, July 28, 2011, Asia-Plus -- Food prices traditionally rise in Tajikistan on the threshold of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan and some experts consider that they will continue to rise despite clerics’ admonitions.

“Under conditions of market economy, pricing depends on the volume of production and demand for a product and clerics’ admonitions will not influence pricing during Ramadan,” MP Ismoil Talbakov told Asia-Plus in an interview.

According to him, this problem can be tackled only “through increasing production and making it more efficient.”  There ought to resolve the sub-purchaser problem as well.  “The government must set up procurement center,” Talbakov said.

In the meantime, Firouz Saidov, an official with the Center for Strategic Studies, noted that food prices rose during the month of Ramadan unreasonably.  “Rise in food products during the holy month of Ramadan has just become endemic in Tajikistan but prices are rising unreasonably, with no account taken of expenses of producers,” he said.

He stressed that it was useless to try to cut prices through measures of compulsion, but “it is necessary to regulate them.”

“I consider it necessary to make intervention in market prices – the government must purchase part of output from producers and sell it at reasonable prices. The government made such an intervention to curb meat price hikes,” noted Saidov, “Besides, it is necessary to impose higher taxes on goods, prices for which were raised groundlessly.  Thirdly, it is necessary to monitor production of output and determine the reason for price rise, and after all, it is necessary to tackle the sub-purchaser problem.”