Rice, flour prices show no sign of abating

Prices of essential grains like rice, packaged wheat flour (atta), and all-purpose flour (maida) showed no sign of coming down on Saturday, while prices of loose flour were also found to be high.

Visiting several kitchen markets around the capital, the finer variants of rice, Nazirshail and Miniket, were being sold at Tk80 per kg, same as last week.

Paijam and Lata variants of rice were being sold at Tk62 per kg, up by Tk4 from last week’s rate of Tk58, while the coarse variant was sold at Tk58, up from last week’s Tk54.

The price of atta increased to Tk57-60 per kg, which was Tk50-55 last week.

Visiting Karwan Bazar on Friday, vendors said that loose atta sold at Tk57-60 per kg, which was Tk55 last week. 

Moreover, a packet of 2-kg atta sold at Tk125, which was Tk115 last week. 

Loose maida was sold at Tk62 per kg while the packaged variant sold at Tk70 per kg, according to the retailers and Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).

Vegetable prices ease

Prices of almost all vegetables have come down in the capital.

During the last few weeks, the price of green chillies had exceeded Tk250 per kg, but on Saturday sold at Tk50-80 at various kitchen markets of the capital. 

Vendors said that the prices fell due to adequate supply against demand.

Beans, the first batch of this season, sold at Tk120-150 per kg, which was Tk200 last week.

Tomatoes, carrots and cucumbers were also being sold at lowered prices. 

Tomato is being sold at Tk100 per kg from last week's Tk130, carrots Tk100 from Tk120, and cucumbers Tk70-80 per kg, reduced by Tk10.

Eggplants sold at Tk50 per kg, which were Tk60 last week.

Among other vegetables, spiny gourd (kakrol) sold at Tk40-Tk45, papaya at Tk20-25, and pointed gourd (potol) Tk30-35.

Almost all vegetables experienced a reduction in price by Tk5-Tk10 per unit.

Amir Hossain, a vegetable retailer at Karwan Bazar, said that lots of vegetables are coming from Patuakhali, Rajshahi, Savar and Manikganj.

For this reason, the price is decreasing a little, he added.

However, Wahidur Rahman, a customer, said that this decline in price is negligible compared to the previous hike. 

The prices of vegetables, despite dropping, were still out of reach, he added. 

Meanwhile, prices of ginger and garlic remained unchanged, with ginger at Tk140 per kg for the local variant and Tk110 for the imported ones, and garlic at TkTk80 for the local variant and Tk130 per kg for the imported ones.

Onions sold at Tk45-50 per kg, which were Tk50-55 last week. 

Finer lentils are being sold at Tk135 per kg and coarser variants at Tk110. 

Supply of cooking oil returned to normalcy

After the execution of new prices on Tuesday, the supply of cooking oil returned to normalcy. 

According to the new price, loose soybean oil is selling at Tk182 per liter, bottled soybean oil at Tk192, and five-litre bottles at Tk945.

Loose palm oil is sold at Tk145 per litre and the super variant is being sold at Tk150 per litre. 

Egg and chicken prices also drop

The market price of broiler eggs came down to Tk120-126 a dozen. 

The price of broiler chicken has also decreased to Tk175-180 per kg in the market from Tk200-210 while a kg of golden chicken is being sold at Tk280 from Tk300 last week.

Beef is being sold at Tk650-700 per kg, and mutton at Tk900.

However, Hasan Mahmud, a customer, said that the price of essentials has increased abnormally in the last few months.

If it reduces by Tk5-10 now, it does not make much of a difference, he said. 

The prices of all products are still beyond the reach of people. It is difficult for fixed-income and lower-income people to survive. They are now on the brink of leaving basic human needs for cost-cutting, Mahmud added.

Milk price hiked again

Meanwhile, companies have increased the price of milk again by Tk10 per litre, while leading companies raised the maximum retail price (MRP) of their products by 12.5% in the last two days.

The price of one-litre Aarong milk pack - a product of Brac Enterprise, Pran Milk, and Akij's Farm Fresh increased to Tk90 a litre from Wednesday. The price was Tk80 a litre earlier, according to retail groceries.

The price of half-litre packs has also increased from Tk40 to Tk45.

However, state-run Milk Vita was yet to review its price.

Powdered milk price also witnessed a Tk20-30 per kg hike in the last few days as Dano milk, a product of Arla Food, was sold at Tk800-810 a kg and Diploma, a product of New Zealand Dairy, at Tk790-800 a kg on Friday.

Vegetable prices however has dropped due to sufficient supply