Prices of several daily essentials, including rice, soybean oil, and sugar, have surged in the capital’s kitchen markets, causing hardships for the city residents, particularly the lower and middle-income ones.
Apart from those, prices of palm oil, broiler chicken, green chillies, eggplant, and tomatoes have also increased.
During visits to the kitchen markets in Duaripara, Mirpur 1, Karwan Bazar, and Mohammadpur Krishi Market yesterday, The Daily Star found these products to be sold at increased prices.
According to data from Trading Corporation of Bangladesh, the price of medium rice increased by 2.68 percent, coarse rice by 2.88 percent, soybean oil by about 1 percent, and sugar by about 2 percent in the past week.
Traders attributed the price hikes to a supply shortage, rising production costs, and the country’s volatile economic situation.
Mohammad Jashim Uddin, a rice wholesaler at Mohammadpur Krishi Market in Dhaka, reported that the price of coarse rice increased by Tk 2-3 per kg last week, citing millers’ claims that higher paddy prices were driving up rice costs.
In the retail market, medium rice is being sold at Tk 55-60 per kg, while the price was Tk 54-58 a week ago, said Mehedi Hasan, a retailer at Karwan Bazar kitchen market.
Coarse rice is being sold at Tk 52-55, while the price was Tk 50-54 in the last week, he added.
The vegetable and broiler chicken markets have also witnessed a significant surge in prices.
Abdul Mannan, a vegetable seller at Karwan Bazar kitchen market, said the price of eggplant increased from Tk 30 to Tk 40 per kg over the past week, while green chilli prices rose from Tk 200 to Tk 240, potatoes from Tk 55 to Tk 60, and cabbage from Tk 30 to Tk 50 per piece.
The price of tomatoes increased from Tk 140 to Tk 180 per kg, he added.
Mohammad Zafar, a retailer at Duaripara Bazar in the Rupnagar area, said the price of broiler chicken rose from Tk 160 to Tk 170 per kg within the same period.
Wholesale traders attributed the increase in broiler chicken prices to higher production costs.
Meanwhile, the prices of soybean oil and palm oil increased by Tk 100 per drum (204 litres) over the last week, said Alam Sheikh, a wholesaler at the Mirpur 1 kitchen market.
The prices of potatoes, onions, eggs, garlic, ginger, and pangas fish have decreased, while the price of tilapia remains unchanged.
Amid the situation, consumers are facing severe challenges.
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, the consumer price index, which includes food and non-food inflation, rose by 1.94 percentage points to 11.66 percent in July, amid the recent unrest.
Meanwhile, food inflation surpassed 14 percent in July, the highest in 13 years, driven in part by a nationwide supply chain disruption caused by weeks of protests ahead of the fall of Sheikh Hasina.
Golam Rabbani, a private sector employee shopping at Mirpur-1 kitchen market, said the prices of many essential items have remained high for over a year, as the previous government failed to curb the high prices.
“I am forced to buy less than what we need, as there’s no other option,” he said.
On Wednesday, Salehuddin Ahmed, finance and planning adviser to the interim government, stated that inflation in Bangladesh is expected to decline within a reasonable timeframe.
On the same day, newly appointed Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur said the burden of rising prices may be reduced to tolerable levels within the next five to six months.
The government will focus on improving supply and production to curb inflation, he said after a meeting at the Secretariat.
