It appears that the government’s all-out efforts to control the mounting prices of rice and edible oil is in vain, as the two major daily essentials still remain pricey.
Rather, they are getting costlier and the story does not just stop there — many other essential prices keep rising, thanks to the unscrupulous businessmen aiming to make a quick buck centring Shab-e-Barat and Ramadan.
In their defence, the importers, wholesalers and retailers, however, blamed a supply crunch for the growing prices — something they commonly do, reports Bangla Tribune.
Already exhausted by the rising prices of rice, oil, chicken, and some seasonal vegetables – which have been on an upward trend for quite some time now – customers, mainly from the low and lower-middle income groups, say the situation must change before Ramadan.
Even though onions were quite affordable for the commoners, its price has surged by Tk10 per kg. Rice prices continued to increase for the last few weeks.
Ayub Ali, a resident at Gopibagh of Dhaka, said they are not only struggling to buy the essentials, but fearing that they may have to leave the capital if the prices keep soaring.
“It will not be possible for me to bear the expenses of my family amid the skyrocketing prices of essentials,” he said.
“From rice, oil, chicken to beef, everything is getting costlier—but my income remained static. And now onion prices jumped by Tk10-12,” said Ayub, disappointed by the trend.
Visiting some kitchen and wholesale markets, it was found that onion prices shot up to Tk15, ranging between Tk40 and Tk60, depending on its quality and variety.
‘Onions to get costlier?’
Traders hinted that onions may get rather costlier in the coming days.
The Murikata variety of onion was being sold for Tk45-50 while the imported one for Tk40 at the Karwan Bazar.
According to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), the onion prices rose by 26% in a week, when the prices of most rice varieties increased by Tk2.
Najirshail was selling at Tk65-70, Miniket at Tk60-65 and medium BR-28 at Tk45-50.
Fine and medium variety rice prices surged by 0.80% and 1.85%, respectively, in a week, TCB data shows. Coarse rice got 1.5% costlier over the same period.
In continuation of the trend for the past few weeks, chicken prices remain upward, with the Sonalika breed selling for Tk310-320, broiler breed for Tk150-155 and the local one for Tk420-450.
The poultry birds died in numbers due to various diseases, leading to a supply shortage which is why the prices are rising, traders said.
Among the summer vegetables, drumsticks — locally known as Sajina or Sajne Daata – are most costly. The vegetable is selling for Tk200 per kg. But pointed gourd and okra prices dropped to Tk60-70, down from Tk0-100 last week.
The prices of potato, tomato, cabbage, bottle gourd, cauliflower, carrot, bitter gourd and brinjal are unchanged.
The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics says inflation rate rose in February, compared to that recorded a month earlier, owing to the over-pricing of rice, edible oil, chicken and sugar among other daily essentials.
The rate in February stood at 5.32%, some 0.30 percentage points higher than in January.
