Weekly Kitchen Market: Consumers under pressure amid price hike of essentials

Staff Reporter :

There is no good news for consumers from capital kitchen market as it is burning with high price of daily commodities mounting pressure of the limited income group people.

The people of the middle and lower middle group are struggling to reconcile their balance sheets, feeling bewilder to maintain their daily life.

Moreover, vegetable prices have continued to climb in Dhaka markets since July, with most items now selling above Tk80 per kg. Eggs have also become costlier over the past two weeks, leaving many households under pressure to manage daily expenses.

Shafique Mia, a customer at New Market, said, “No one cares about us. With wives and children at home, it has become very difficult to run the family as prices keep rising.”

New Market, Lalbagh and Hatirpool showed that fish prices have remained mostly unchanged. Pangas has dropped from Tk200-220 to Tk190-200 per kg. Rui and Katla remain almost the same at Tk300-350 and Tk400-450 respectively. Koi fish has fallen slightly from Tk250 to Tk230-240 per kg.

Beef is stable at Tk750 per kg and mutton at Tk1100. Broiler chicken is still selling at Tk170-180, Pakistani chicken at Tk300-330 and Sonali chicken at unchanged rates.

The egg market remains heated with red eggs unchanged at Tk150 per dozen and Tk50 per hali.
The vegetable market has shown mixed trends. Potato is being sold at Tk25 per kg while cucumber prices have fallen to Tk60-80. Okra, carrot and pointed gourd are selling at Tk80 each, bitter gourd at Tk100, bottle gourd at Tk70 and pumpkin at Tk50. Round brinjal is selling at Tk160-200, medium brinjal at Tk120 and long brinjal at Tk80-100. Snake gourd and sponge gourd have fallen to Tk80 while green chilli, which previously sold at Tk260-300, is now available at Tk200-250.

Rajan, a vegetable trader at Hatirpool, said that there is a shortage of supplies in the market and heavy rain has damaged vegetables in many areas, which has pushed prices higher.

The spice market has remained mostly stable, but ginger prices have been volatile. Chinese ginger, which sold for Tk160 last week, is now selling at Tk180-190. Locally grown ginger is available at Tk150-160, with some markets charging slightly higher. Prices of garlic, onion, cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, clove and ground spices have not seen major changes.

Prices of lentils, edible oil and rice have remained stable. Local lentil is selling at Tk145, Indian lentil at Tk100, local mung bean at Tk150-160 and khesari pulse at Tk110-112. Miniket rice is selling at Tk78-80, polao rice at Tk115-120 and 28 and paijam rice at Tk65. Soybean oil is available at Tk125-180 and super oil at Tk170.

Green leafy vegetables, including red spinach, water spinach and stem amaranth have remained stable at Tk20-30 per bunch.