Staff Reporter :
The government’s struggle to break the hold of market manipulators hiking egg prices, combined with ineffective market drives in Dhaka, has left low-income consumers increasingly anxious.
Fisheries and Livestock Advisor Farida Akhter acknowledged that price manipulation is at play and should be treated as a crime. She noted that 70% of egg prices depend on feed costs, which have not increased recently. Akhter made these comments while speaking as the chief guest at a World Egg Day event in Khamarbari, Dhaka, on Friday.
Following the fall of the Awami League government on August 5, prices of essential goods, including eggs, vegetables, and fish, spiked. Despite importing around 7.5 lakh eggs from India, egg prices have risen by over Tk4 per piece in the past two months. Eggs are currently being sold at Tk15 each in kitchen markets across the country.
On October 5, the Bangladesh Poultry Association (BPA) accused corporate syndicates and the Tejgaon Egg Traders Association of pocketing Tk280 crore through artificially inflated egg and chick prices over the last 20 days. The BPA, representing small-scale farmers, stated, “Corporate groups have created instability in the country’s egg and chicken markets.”
The BPA further claimed that while corporate companies agreed to sell eggs at Tk11.10 each, they deceitfully sold them at prices between Tk11.80 and Tk12.50, causing retail prices to reach Tk14-15. This daily increase of Tk2 per egg has generated an additional profit of Tk8 crore from the sale of four crore eggs per day, totaling Tk160 crore over the past 20 days.
In addition, the price of chicks, previously Tk30-35, surged to Tk40-56 after September 15. This increase allowed corporate companies to extract an additional Tk120 crore in profit from small-scale farmers over 20 days through what the BPA described as deceptive practices.
Meanwhile, two monitoring teams from the Commerce Ministry conducted inspections in Dhaka’s kitchen markets to control the prices of essential commodities. During these drives, several shops were fined a total of Tk4,500.
The inspections were carried out at Shah Ali City Corporation market in Mirpur and Shanir Akhra market. Prices of rice, pulses, potatoes, eggs, vegetables, and chicken were reviewed, with some shop owners and consumers reporting a slight decline in egg prices compared to recent days.
The teams instructed shop owners to display updated price lists. In earlier drives on Wednesday, monitoring teams from the Ministry of Commerce fined traders Tk12,500 at Mohammadpur and Fakirapool kitchen markets for failing to display proper price lists and other irregularities.
A team led by Commerce Ministry Deputy Secretary Jannatul Ferdous fined several traders at Mohammadpur market for irregularities, while another team led by Senior Assistant Secretary Amit Deb Nath inspected Fakirapool market. The teams noted a slight decrease in the prices of eggs and onions and urged traders to update price lists for essential items, including chicken, rice, and potatoes.