Vegetables going beyond people’s reach
Consumers feel the pinch of soaring prices of essentials and vegetables nearly two weeks ahead of the Ramadan.
Prices of onion, rice, pulse, sugar and chickpea have already gone up in city markets. Vegetables such as aubergine, bitter gourd and okra have also become dearer in the last few days. They are now sold between Tk 40 and 50 a kilogram, which were between Tk 24 and Tk 36 a kg a month ago.
Onion was sold at Tk 28-34 a kg yesterday, 38 percent higher than a month ago. Retailers sold sugar for Tk 68-70 a kilogram, 12 percent higher than a month back, according to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.
Prices of loose cooking oil remained unchanged. However, prices of packed cooking oil rose at the end of the last month. Retailers now charge Tk 595-605 for a 5-litre can of edible oil, which was Tk 560-570 early last month.
Prices of essentials continue to soar ahead of the Ramadan when demands for vegetables such as aubergine, and some commodities including cooking oil, sugar, onion, pulse and chickpea go up.
Prices of chickpea, a key item for iftar, rose by eight percent to Tk 64-72 a kg compared to the previous month.
Traders and processors said soybean, palm oil and sugar became dearer due to a hike in their prices on the international market.
They blamed continuous devaluation of taka against the dollar, supply crunch and retailers for the rise in prices.
Mostafa Kamal, chairman and managing director of leading commodity processor and importer Meghna Group of Industries, said sugar prices increased mainly because of a fall in supply, as four of country’s six refineries remained shut for various reasons.
He claimed that local processors are selling cooking oil below their production costs, as exchange rate of US dollar continues to increase.
”In such a situation, prices of imported commodities will go up,” he said.
Idris Ahmed, an onion wholesaler at Shyambazar in old Dhaka, said onion prices increased due to a fall in import from India.
Shahjalal Patwary, a vegetables wholesaler at Karwan Bazar, said there has been a shortfall in supply of vegetables since the beginning of this month.
According to a government estimate, the country has a stock of over three lakh tonnes of sugar and two lakh tonnes of cooking oil.
More sugar and cooking oil will be imported soon, said Mozibur Rahman, chairman of Bangladesh Tariff Commission, which is responsible for fixing the price structure of essentials.
Bangladesh imported 12.97 lakh tonnes of sugar and 12.93 lakh tonnes of cooking oil in fiscal year 2009-10.
Import of sugar and edible oil stood at 9.16 lakh tonnes and 10.52 lakh tonnes between July and March of the last fiscal year, according to data of National Board of Revenue.
Rahman said there will be no shortage in supply of sugar and cooking oil during Ramadan.
”I don’t see any reason for spike in prices of sugar and edible oil, as there are sufficient stocks of both the items. More imports are also in the pipeline,” he said.
Rahman blamed the retailers’ greed for the current price spiral of sugar.
-With The Daily Star input
