Al Amin :
The unusual price hike of the essential commodities has increased the woes of the consumers at a time when the people are facing a hard time due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
The prices of almost all essentials commodities including rice, onion, summer vegetables, meats, edible oil, sugar and pulses have increased again this week and the consumers are forced to purchase commodities at whatever prices fixed by the retailers who are charging.
The government has apparently no control over the prices of the commodities due to unknown reasons, the consumers said.
The seasonal new vegetables have already started hitting the markets. But most of the vegetables were selling at high price. Sajane data, a seasonal vegetable, hit the markets and was selling at Tk 200-220, which is absolutely beyond the purchasing power of the ordinary people.
Onion prices, which rose at the starting of the last week, have increased again by Tk 10 per kg and now selling at Tk 55 per Kg in the city’s kitchen markets.
Onion prices shot up in Dhaka markets over the last one week as supply of imported bulbs and early harvested varieties declined.
Market is likely to see increased supply in the next one-two weeks owing to beginning of harvesting. Onions from India have started arriving for the last two-three days, said Ashadul Islam of Milon Enterprise, an importer and firm at Bhomra land port — one of the biggest land ports for onion import.
Shah Alam, an onion wholesaler at Mohammadpur Krishi market, said supply of onions increased at wholesale level.
Prices are likely to decline as the main harvesting season of onions has started. Market is likely to be stable in two weeks, he added.
Bangladesh requires 25-30 lakh tonnes of onion annually and it has to import roughly 10 lakh tonnes as domestic production falls short.
Besides onion, all kinds of chickens are selling at high prices. Boiler chickens were selling at Tk 155 to 160, Pakistani Sonali or Cock chicken at Tk 350 to 360 and red layer chicken at Tk 180 to 200 per Kg.
The sugar market has been volatile for a long time. In the last one-and-a-half months, the standard sugar of various brands has increased by Tk 5 per Kg and selling at Tk 70 per Kg in the city’s markets.
Although on an upward trajectory for a long time, the market for all kinds of edible oil has become more volatile in the run up to Ramadan. Meanwhile, the price of per maund Palm oil (40.90 litres) has risen to Tk3,850-Tk3,900 which was sold at below Tk 3,400 per maund a month ago.
Similarly, Palm super oil is being sold at Tk4,200 per maund at present which was also sold at below Tk 3,800 last month. Moreover, soybean oil was sold at Tk4,100 last month which now sells at Tk4,500. According to the market price, the price of edible oil went up by Tk300-Tk400 in the last one month.
As a result, prices of most consumer goods needed for Ramzan rose over the past one month and are still rising, some traders said, adding that raising the prices of consumer goods two months before Ramzan was a ploy of profit-mongering importers and wholesalers.
