Staff Reporter :
The prices of some essential commodities have increased further blaming surplus demand of the consumers following the announcement of a fresh nationwide lockdown.
The people crowded the grocery stores, super shops and kitchen markets in the city on Sunday as part of their extra cautious measures.
The Commerce Ministry, however, urged people not to be panic as the country has adequate stock of the essential commodities to meet demand.
In a statement of Sunday, the ministry said, “The country has substantial stocks of essential commodities. So, keep confidence in normal purchases.”
A seven-day long restriction on people’s movement is starting from today (Monday) to curb Covid-19 infections. This led to growing concerns among the masses of a further price hike for daily essentials.
The prices of rice, onion, potato, lentils, garlic and egg rose by Tk 5 to Tk 15 per Kg on the day.
Visiting different markets, this correspondent found that the prices of all kind rice have increased by Tk 2-3 per Kg. The coarse rice was selling at Tk 55 per kg, up from Tk 52 per Kg in two days before.
Onion price increased by Tk 5 per Kg and was selling at Tk 45, which was Tk 40 in the retail markets.
Meanwhile, the price of potato increased by Tk 4 and was selling Tk 22-24 per Kg, which was Tk 18-20 per Kg in the last week.
On the other hand, the price of egg increased by Tk 10-15 per dozen and was retailing at Tk 105 a dozen in the city’s groceries.
“I came for purchasing necessary items fearing the price of goods goes up due to the lockdown,” Jahirul Islam, a private job holder.
“I bought more of each item so that I can use them in case of emergency even in Ramadan,” he said.
Besides, considering the current prices trend, there is no guarantee that it will not increase further in the future, he added.
Shaheen Khan, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Meena Bazar, said after the announcement of the fresh lockdown, the number of shoppers increased significantly in the last two days.
“But I would not call it a panic buy as the number of customers increased slightly. About 25 per cent more customers were seen today (Sunday),” he added.
Humayun Kabir, spokesperson of state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), said open market sales through mobile trucks will continue during the lockdown.
The state agency, which sells certain essential foods at subsidised or below-market prices, added 100 trucks to its fleet on April 1, bringing the total to 500 in order to help more people buy key commodities ahead of Ramadan.
“We operated trucks during the general holiday last year so our trucks will be on but we are unlikely to increase the number of trucks further,” Kabir said.
Asked whether the allotment or quantity of commodities for each buyer will be increased considering the lockdown, he said there will be no upward revision.
