Staff Reporter :
Prices of brinjal have marked sharp rise in the city markets on Tuesday, the first day holy Ramzan, despite their adequate supply.
The prices of brinjal (long variety) witnessed a hike by almost 100 per cent on the day, as it is one of the most essential ingredients for preparing the Iftar item namely ‘Beguni’, market sources said.
They, however, said that though prices of brinjal have gone up in the markets, the rates of most other vegetables remained stable.
On Tuesday, brinjal was selling at Tk 90-100 per kilogram (kg) whereas it was only Tk 40-50 per kg on Sunday.
“We sold brinjal at Tk 40 to Tk 50 on Sunday but today it went high to Tk 100 as Ramzan begins,” Abdul Khaleque, a retail vegetable shop owner at the city’s Jigatola kitchen market, told The New Nation yesterday.
Khaleque said they do not have anything to do with the price hike as the prices of products have already gone up at the wholesale market at Karwan Bazar.
“Demand for brinjal usually goes up during Ramzan that may be the cause to push up their prices in the markets,” he opined.
Onion prices showed ups and downs in the last seven days and were sold at Tk 42-45 (local) and Tk 36-42 (imported) on Tuesday.
Besides, prices of other commodities used for preparing Iftar items remained static on the day compared with those of the previous week.
The gram was selling at Tk 90-110 a kg, imported garlic at Tk 200-220 a kg while the local variety was selling at Tk 140-150 a kg yesterday. The price of red lentil remained unchanged. However, imported red lentil was being sold at Tk 110-130 a kg while local red lentil was selling at Tk 140-150 a kg.
The price of broiler chicken remained unchanged with the item selling at Tk 175-180 a kg while beef was selling at Tk 420-440 a kg and mutton at Tk 600 yesterday.
