New Delhi, Apr 23: The CPM on Wednesday came down heavily on the government for not banning futures and forward trading in essential commodities, saying speculation was the prime cause of price rise.

Referring to the reported difference of opinion within the Abhijit Sen committee which went into the forward trading issue, Politburo member Sitaram Yechury said the trade volume of the commodities exchange was " USD three billion a day and accounted for Rs 40 lakh crore in one fiscal, which was eight times the annual budget size of the country."

"If this is the amount of money involved, does it require an experts committee to say that speculation is leading to price rise," he said and demanded that all 25 essential items idenfitied by a parliamentary standing committee be excluded from futures trading.

"If this is the value, then obviously big profits are there in this trade and to materialise these huge profits, speculative trading is going on without any actual trade being carried out. The only way to realise profits in this trade is to raise prices," Yechury said.

He said the Left parties, who are continuing their agitation with the UNPA on price rise, would meet soon to decide on their next course of action. Notices for discussion on price rise in parliament would be submitted in both houses tomorrow.