Moinul Haque
The soaring prices of essential commodities, including rice, vegetables, eggs and broiler chicken, put increasing pressure on the low-income people, pushing them further to the wall.
Market analysts have expressed concerns over the unusual spiralling of prices of the essentials, criticising the interim government for its failure to take timely action to protect consumers from exploitative pricing practices.
They said that similar to the previous administration, inadequacies in regulatory measures by the interim government allowed business syndicates to take advantage of the situation, putting further burden on the consumers.
The prices of rice, vegetables, eggs, and broiler chicken have surged excessively over the past month, while the prices of other commodities have remained steadily high.
‘We haven’t observed any changes in the commodity market over the past two months since the interim government assumed power. All the longstanding issues in the supply chain persist, as the government has failed to establish clear priorities,’ Consumer Association of Bangladesh vice president SM Nazer Hossain told New Age on Tuesday.
Having mentioned that the interim government had recently adopted some initiatives to establish order in the commodity market, he complained that these efforts remained slow to gain traction owing to the lack of an effective mechanism.
‘The new government has taken office, yet the bureaucrats remain the same and are believed to have a nexus with the business syndicate,’ Nazer said.
Recently, the government established a special task force at the district level to monitor and assess the market and supply situation of essential commodities.
Earlier, it had reduced the import duties on sugar, potato and onion, which, however, failed to influence the commodities’ prices.
Economics professor Golam Rasul at the International University of Business Agriculture and Technology has recently said that low and lower-middle-income people were the worst affected by rising food prices.
Working-class people are often compelled to compromise on nutritious foods due to high prices, which adversely impacts the development of human capital, he said.
According to retailers, the price of rice increased by Tk 6–8 per kilogram over the past two months, while the price of chicken increased by Tk 30–40 per kilogram during the same period.
They also said that the egg prices had been rising almost daily in the wholesale market over the past month.
Mizanur Rahman, a retailer at Karwan Bazar in the city, said that rice prices increased by Tk 200 per bag of 50kg in the past two months.
Wholesalers and millers showed increase in paddy prices as the pretext for rice price hike, Mizan said.
The medium-quality varieties of rice sold for Tk 58–62 a kilogram in the city markets.
The price of lower-grade Miniket sold for Tk 65–70 a kilogram.
The fine variety of Miniket sold for Tk 76–80 a kilogram and Najirshail for Tk 85–90 a kilogram on Tuesday.
Despite the government’s efforts to ensure logical prices for egg and broiler chicken in mid-September, these commodities were not traded at those rates even for a single day.
On September 15, the Department of Livestock Services set ‘reasonable prices’ at Tk 11.87 per egg, Tk 179.59 per kilogram for broiler chicken, and Tk 269.64 per kilogram for Sonalika chicken.
Since the announcement, however, egg prices have spiked by Tk 7–8 per four pieces together over the past three weeks, with eggs selling for Tk 58–60 per four pieces in the city’s markets on Tuesday.
Since September 15, the price of broiler chicken has increased by Tk 20–30 per kilogram, with its current price range being Tk 200–210 per kilogram.
Sonalika chicken was being sold for Tk 280–290 per kilogram in the city markets on Tuesday.
In response to the ongoing volatility in the egg market, the commerce ministry on Tuesday authorised the import of 4.5 crore eggs.
The Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission on Tuesday once again urged the National Board of Revenue to lift import duty on egg to curb its high prices in the local market.
Citing statistics from the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh, the commission informed the revenue board that the local price of egg had increased by 15 per cent in the past month and by 20.41 per cent over the past year.
Earlier on August 29, the trade and tariff commission submitted a report to the revenue board regarding the reduction of duties on egg import.
Bangladesh Poultry Association President Sumon Hawlader put the egg price instability to the corporate giants and a syndicate of wholesale traders.
The prices of edible oil increased by up to Tk10 a litre in the past one month.
Retailers said that the wholesale prices of palm oil had sharply increased, whereas that of the soybean oil had been rising comparatively slowly.
Palm oil was being retailed at Tk 145–150 a litre while packaged soya bean oil sold for Tk 165–170 a litre in the city markets.
Commerce ministry officials said that the Vegetable Oil Refiners Association had submitted a letter requesting an upward revision of edible oil prices, citing the recent price increase in the international market.
Taslim Shahriar, senior assistant general manager of Meghna Group of Industries, said that the price of palm oil had risen by $200 per tonne to become $1,120 per tonne in the international market over the past two months, while soybean oil had increased by $100 per tonne to become $1,110 per tonne.
Meghna Group of Industries is one of the largest edible oil refiners in the country.
The price of vegetables has surged dramatically over the past month, making life increasingly difficult for low income people.
Most vegetables were selling for Tk 80–120 per kilogram, while only papaya was selling at Tk 40–50 per kilogram in the city markets on Tuesday.
On the day, green chilly was sold for Tk 350–400 per kilogram in the city.
Bangladesh Kanchamal Arot Babosyee Samiti president Emran Master claimed that vegetables prices surged due to supply shortages as flood and downpours damaged farmlands across the country.
He said that the supply of vegetables decreased by nearly 50 per cent in the recent weeks.
