Food prices fall globally but rise locally

Staff Reporter :
Food prices fell by an average of 13.7 per cent in 2023 globally compared to the previous year as per the data of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations while the prices of the foods were increased by 10.06 per cent in Bangladesh during the same period.

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data showed it.

The latest data from the FAO shows a point-to-point decrease of 10.1 per cent in food prices in December 2023 compared to December 2022.

As per the FAO report, the international sugar price index was the only one to rise over the year.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s food inflation (point-to-point) soared from a minimum of 7.76 per cent in January to a maximum of 12.54 per cent in August, as per the BBS data.

The BBS data suggests the average food inflation in 2023 was about 10.06 per cent, according to Adnan Al Nahiyan, lecturer of Economics at Jahangirnagar University.

Adnan Al Nahiyan pointed out a curious mismatch between local and global prices movement by saying, “While local traders readily adjust to global price hikes, their response to declines is far more muted.”

This adjustment sluggishness, the JU teacher argued, explains why Bangladeshi food prices continued to rise even as global prices plummeted by over 20 per cent between March and June 2023.

These disconnect leaves low-income and lower-middle-class families in Bangladesh particularly vulnerable.

SM Nazer Hossain, Vice-President of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), said, “Which is going on in the country in the name of business is not really business but it is robbery.”

“The traders are involved in robbery keeping the consumers as captive. It is totally unethical,” he said.

Referring to the recent ‘sudden surge’ in onion prices by Tk 50-60 per kg almost overnight after India extended its export ban, he said.

The CAB leader said there were lacks of good governance in the country to contain unethical price hiking.