Bangladesh News

Prices of rice, pulses, chicken, egg and fish are increasing every day in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country for a week now, leaving people on middle and low incomes in further distress.

The prices of other essentials, however, remained stable or came down slightly yesterday after witnessing a sharp rise last week.

Meantime, importing rice from India has run into snags again as customs officials at Petrapole land port in India are not allowing rice consignments into Bangladesh as they are still waiting for directives from Kolkata Customs House even though the Indian commerce ministry gave the green light to exporting 3000 trucks of rice which have been stranded on the Indian side of the border, reports our Benapole correspondent.

Although edible oil and sugar prices saw a slight drop after a hefty rise in a couple of weeks, people in the lower income bracket are still struggling to cope with the prices.

The prices of coarse rice like Indian Swarna and Ratna rose from Tk 1120 to Tk 1160 per maund in the wholesale market yesterday, an increase of Tk 10 per maund on the previous day, while local varieties like Guti and Irri also shot up by Tk 10 a maund, selling yesterday at Tk 1100 to Tk 1140 per maund.

Prices of other varieties of rice, however, remained stable in the retail market.

Wholesalers at Babubazar and Badamtali in the capital attributed the price hike to increases in the international market, adding that rice prices are unlikely to come down until the Boro harvest.

Meantime, though last three days prices of pulses remained largely stable in the wholesale market, retail markets saw a slight rise. Different varieties of pulses were selling at Tk 75 to Tk 105 per kilogram yesterday.

A wholesaler at Karwan Bazar said he yesterday sold good quality Australian pulses at Tk 96 a kg while other varieties at Tk 70 to Tk 90 per kg, adding that traders were mostly buying medium-quality pulses against the backdrop of a rise of Tk 12 to Tk 15 in just three weeks.

At Kaptanbazar wholesale market, battery-chicken prices jumped to Tk 75 per kg from Tk 68 a day before. But in the retail market the price ranged from Tk 80 to Tk 85. The price of free-range chickens rose by Tk 10 to Tk 15 per bird yesterday. Traders blamed the rise on poor supply.

They, however, said chicken sales became normal in the capital and elsewhere in the country in last few days.

Egg prices spiked by Tk 1 per ‘hali’ (four eggs) in the retail market last week. Battery eggs were selling at Tk 350 to Tk 360 per hundred yesterday which sold for Tk 330 to Tk 340 three days back.

Fish prices also hiked in both retail and wholesale markets. One trader at Karwan Bazar attributed the rise to shortage of supply due to the end of fishing season.

After a sharp rise last week, edible oil, sugar and mutton prices dropped a bit in both retail and wholesale markets.

But the slight drop could not satisfy people on low incomes.

Hamid Ali, a worker at Tejgaon industrial area, said prices of essentials have almost doubled on last year. “Living costs have also increased but our income has got stuck in the same place,” he said.

“It’s been difficult for me to run a four-member family with my present salary. I have to buy on credit in the second half of the month,” he said.