THE prices of vegetables, fish and meat went up in the city’s kitchen markets over the week ending Friday. Traders said that prices of most of the vegetables increased as the supply of summer vegetables became near end and the winter vegetables started hitting the market. The prices of most of the vegetables increased by Tk 5-10 a kilogram over the week. Needs to be mentioned, prices of fish might go up further in the coming days, as the fishing season in rivers is going to end soon, and the fish supply would fall substantially. It is an advance warning for controlling the fish prices in the days ahead.
Most seasonal vegetables, including pointed gourds, pumpkins, ridges, sponge gourds, summer eggplants and bitter gourds, showed a considerable hike–these were being sold for Tk 60-80 per kg on the day. However, every family needs fish and vegetables for daily consumption. If prices of these go up it would put strain on the family budget, since most families are unable to spend the extra buck for any type of commodity. Price monitoring and relevant authorities should find out the cause of the spiralling prices of fish and vegetables. We know that a group of unscrupulous businessmen on various pretexts raise the prices of essentials to create an artificial crisis and make fortunes targeting the common buyers. Prices of essentials should remain stable throughout the year. If the prices of essentials remain within the purchasing capacity of the consumers they can do the purchasing without going through pecuniary stress.
It is the responsibility of the authorities concerned to assess the supply and demand situation in the kitchen markets. If the demand and supply positions match there should not be any crisis of essentials. Monitoring of markets and keeping a vigil on corrupt traders can bring the desired result. Otherwise, it could create an onion-like situation where traders hiked its price in a freestyle amid huge stock of it.
