Prices of essential commodities in the capital remained largely stable this week, but shoppers said they were getting little relief as fish, chicken, and most vegetables continued to sell at high prices, straining household budgets.
Although there has been no major week-on-week change in prices, the persistently high cost of food items has forced low-income families, particularly middle- and lower-middle-income households, to carefully balance their spending with their daily needs.
"There is no sign of prices of essential commodities coming down. The high prices of fish, chicken, and vegetables have made it difficult to stay within our monthly budget. Now, when I come to the market, I check the prices first and then decide what to buy. Many times, I have to leave out even essential items," said Rafiqul Islam, a private-sector employee shopping at Raysaheb Bazar in Old Dhaka on Friday.
Another shopper, Rokhsana Begum, said vegetables, which once offered some relief to household budgets, have also become increasingly expensive.
"Now almost all types of vegetables are expensive. Our household budget is limited, so even if we want to, we cannot buy vegetables according to our needs. Every day we have to calculate our expenses carefully before shopping," she said.
A visit to several kitchen markets in the capital found that almost all vegetables were selling for more than Tk50-60 per kg.
Potatoes, tomatoes, round brinjals, long brinjals, bitter gourds, pointed gourds, bottle gourds, green papayas, cucumbers, carrots, cauliflowers, yardlong beans, snake gourds, pumpkins, ridge gourds, taro stolons, okra, and various leafy vegetables continued to sell at elevated prices.
Okra, pointed gourds, ridge gourds, bitter gourds, and snake gourds were selling for Tk60-80 per kg, while yardlong beans were priced at Tk70-80 per kg. Green bananas were selling at Tk35-40 per four-piece bunch (hali).
Onions were selling for Tk50-60 per kg, green papayas for Tk30-40 per kg, carrots for Tk100-120 per kg, taro stolons for Tk70 per kg, and hyacinth beans for Tk130 per kg.
"Our wholesale prices have not declined much either. So it is not possible to sell at lower prices in the retail market," said Momin Mia, a vegetable trader at Narinda Kacha Bazar.
Fish prices also remained high across the capital's markets.
Pangas was selling for Tk200 per kg, while large rohu was priced at Tk300-350 per kg and medium-sized rohu at Tk250-270 per kg.
Katla was selling for Tk250-350 per kg depending on size, pabda for Tk400-600 per kg, freshwater giant prawns (golda) for Tk650-750 per kg, and shing catfish for Tk450-500 per kg.
Among smaller varieties, kachki fish was selling for Tk300 per kg and mola fish for Tk280 per kg.
Marine fish also remained comparatively expensive at the wholesale level. Large surma fish was selling for Tk300 per kg, pomfret (rupchanda) for Tk600-800 per kg, red coral fish for Tk500-600 per kg, and bata fish for Tk200 per kg.
"The supply of river fish has increased somewhat compared to before, but retail prices cannot be reduced because wholesale prices remain high. Customers are now buying smaller fish instead of larger ones," said Jalal Mia, a fish trader at Raysaheb Bazar.
Chicken prices also remained unchanged during the week.
Broiler chicken was selling for Tk160-165 per kg, Sonali chicken for Tk300 per kg, layer chicken for Tk340-350 per kg, and indigenous (deshi) chicken for Tk600-650 per kg.
Meanwhile, egg prices remained unchanged. A dozen red poultry eggs was selling for Tk120 in the retail market, the same price as last week.