Commodity prices shoot up in Bangladesh ahead of Ramadan

Prices of a number of essential commodities witnessed a fresh increase on Monday, ahead of more government restrictions on business activities and public movement to check COVID-19 infections and Ramadan, the fasting month of the Muslims which is likely to begin tomorrow.

The city’s kitchen markets were swamped by huge crowds on Monday after the announcement of fresh restrictions on all activities across the country from Wednesday to contain the surging coronavirus infections.

According to traders, there was a surge in the number of buyers in the markets as people were buying certain items in large quantities over fears of possible supply shortage during the COVID-19 restrictions in April 14-21.

They said that consumers were also buying some commodities in additional quantities for Ramadan.

Although the prices of rice and vegetables, which are consumed heavily in Ramadan, went up on the kitchen markets in the city on Monday, prices of other commodities had remained high for the past few months.

The prices of rice increased by Tk 2-3 a kilogram in the city and the medium quality variety was selling for Tk 5560 a kg on the day.

The standard variety of Miniket rice sold for Tk 64-67 a kg and the fine variety sold for Tk 68-70 a kg. Najirshail rice sold for Tk 70-72 a kg in the city.

The prices of some vegetables, including aubergine and cucumber, rose by Tk 10-20 a kilogram on the kitchen markets on Monday.

Aubergine sold for Tk 60-80 a kg, papaya for Tk 30-40 a kg, bitter gourd for Tk 60 a kg, bottle gourd for Tk 50-60 apiece, beans for Tk 30-40 a kg, radish for Tk 20-30 a kg,  cucumber for Tk 60-70 a kg and tomato for Tk 30-35 a kg on the day.

Potato was selling for Tk 20 a kg while green chilli was selling for Tk 6070 a kg on the day. The prices of onion increased by Tk 5 a kg. The local variety sold for Tk 40-45 a kg while the imported variety sold for Tk 35-38 a kg in the capital.

Amid the continuous hike in the prices of essential commodities, the Department of Agricultural Marketing on Monday set the maximum retail prices of six commodities — onion, sugar, gram, red lentil, soya bean oil and dates.

The DAM set the prices of onion at Tk 40 a kg, sugar at Tk 67-68 a kg, fine quality of red lentil at Tk 97-103 a kg and the coarse variety at Tk 61-65 a kg, the coarse variety of dates at Tk 80-100 a kg and the fine quality variety at Tk 200-250 a kg and that of soya bean oil at Tk 139 a litre.    

A one-litre bottle of soya bean oil sold for Tk 135-140 while five litres of packaged soya bean oil sold for Tk 630-650 on Monday.

Unpackaged soya bean oil sold for Tk 120-125 a litre and palm oil sold for Tk 110-115 a litre on the day.

Refined sugar retailed at Tk 68-70 a kg while the locally produced variety retailed at Tk 70 a kg. The price of broiler chicken remained unchanged and the item was selling for Tk 150-160 a kg.

The Sonali variety was selling for Tk 230-250 a kg while the local variety of chicken was selling for Tk 450-500 a kg on the day.

The price of eggs remained unchanged. The item was selling for Tk 3032 a hali or four pieces.

The coarse variety of red lentil sold for Tk 65-70 a kg while the mediumquality variety sold for Tk 85-90 a kg on the markets.

The fine variety of red lentil sold for Tk 115-120 a kg.

The imported variety of garlic retailed at Tk 110-130 a kg while the local variety sold for Tk 100-110 a kg in the capital.

The imported variety of ginger sold for Tk 90-140 a kg and the local variety retailed at Tk 100-120 a kg.

News Courtesy:

https://www.newagebd.net/article/135217/commodity-prices-shoot-up-in-bangladesh-ahead-of-ramadan