Home ›› 30 Sep 2022 ›› Front
Despite the government’s attempted intervention to lower the prices of essential commodities in the local market, the prices of several commodities have gone up instead of down. Retailers blame the wholesale market, while wholesalers blame the manufacturers or importers for the price hike.
The prices of rice, sugar, palm oil, eggs, powder milk and some spices have gone up notably this week. While the government took the initiative to lower prices, they have not monitored the market strictly enough to impose the prices and consequently, the prices have risen, the consumers say. They also think that if the market was monitored strictly, the prices would decline.
After visiting several markets in the capital, this correspondent found that fine rice including Miniket (Jirashail) and Nazirshail was being sold for Tk 72-74 per kg, which was Tk 70-72 just a week earlier.
Medium quality rice was being sold at Tk 62-68 per kg, which was Tk 60-66 last week, and coarse rice at Tk 45-54 per kg, which was Tk 47-52.
According to Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) data, the price of fine rice increased by Tk 2-3 within the last week. On the other hand, sources at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture say that till now, permission was given to import 10 lakh tonnes of rice with the facility of reduced import duty.
However, as the import had not gone as planned due to various reasons, the price of rice has not gone down, traders claimed.
Meanwhile, on September 22 the Ministry of Commerce reduced the price of palm oil by Tk 12 to Tk 133 per litre. Besides, the ministry also revised the prices of refined loose and packaged sugar by Tk 6 per kg to Tk 84 and Tk 89 respectively. The government set the prices as per the recommendations made by the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission.
The prices came into effect on September 25. However, even after a week, the revision did not affect the market, and both sugar and palm oil were being sold for higher than the price fixed by the government.
After visiting the Segunbagicha kitchen market on Thursday, this correspondent found that sugar was being sold at Tk 90 per kg and palm oil at Tk 135 per litre. According to TCB data, sugar was being sold at retail at Tk 84-90 per kg and palm oil at Tk 135-138 per litre.
A trader at the kitchen market said that the government’s announced prices do not match the real picture in the wholesale and retail market. The traders know about the reduced prices of sugar and palm oil. But the prices have not gone down in the wholesale market, and so the retail traders are forced to buy and sell the commodities at higher prices, he claimed.
“I bought sugar from the wholesale market on Wednesday while paying Tk 110 extra for each bag of 50kgs even though we are selling sugar at the previous rate of Tk 90 per kg,” the trader said.
He added that if the wholesale price goes down, the price of commodities in the retail market will cool as well.
“For example, the price of lentils has already gone down Tk 5 per kg,” he mentioned.
Powdered milk, eggs, chicken, imported ginger and garlic are also among the commodities with rising prices. Some brands of powdered milk hiked prices by as much as Tk 10-30 per kg. The price of farm chicken eggs has increased by Tk 10 per dozen to Tk 150 within a week. The price of broiler chicken has also increased by Tk 10 per kg and is being sold at Tk 165-170.
However, the price of onion and lentil has gone down this week. Onion was being sold at Tk 35-45 per kg, which was Tk 40-45 last week. The prices of lentils went down by around Tk 5-10 per kg.
