Onions now Tk 140, potatoes Tk 65 a kg

Prices of potatoes and onions have skyrocketed in the kitchen markets.

The local variety of onions was selling for Tk 120-140 a kg in Mohammadpur Krishi Market, and kitchen markets of Mirpur-1, New Market, and Karwan Bazar in the capital yesterday.

Traders say the price of all types of the bulb increased mainly due to the rise in the price of imported onions.

Over the last seven days, the price of local onions jumped up to Tk 130-140 from Tk 90-95 per kg. Imported onions were sold at Tk 120-125 a kg, up from Tk 70-80.

Mohammad Anwar Hossain, a retailer at Mirpur-1 kitchen market, said prices of potatoes and onions are increasing every day. He did not get any satisfactory answers from wholesalers when asked about the reason for the abnormal increase in prices.

He added that the sale of onions and potatoes decreased by 30 percent due to high prices.

A large portion of the onion demand is met by imports from India. On Saturday, India decided to impose a floor price on onion exports to discourage outbound shipments and thereby ensure stability in its domestic market.

Shahid Alam, a shopper in Mirpur-1, yesterday said he had to pay Tk 30 extra to buy a kg of local onions.

"When the grocer asked for the extra, I could not believe my ears. I asked him why the price hike but he could not give any reasonable answer," he said.

Shahid said he had to cut consumption of several essentials because of high prices.

Potatoes were being sold for Tk 50-55 a kg a week ago and the price increased to Tk 60-65 yesterday.

According to traders, there is a shortage in supply. Besides, the demand for potatoes has gone up due to high prices of other vegetables.

On September 14, the commerce ministry fixed the prices of potatoes at Tk 35-36 per kg, onions at Tk 64-65 a kg, and eggs Tk 12 per piece. But the ministry's move fell flat as traders did not comply with it even the next day.

Abdul Majed, an onion importer and wholesaler at Shyambazar in Old Dhaka, said the recent announcement from India caused the price to go up further in domestic markets.

"I don't think the price will come down before the newly harvested onions hit the market in December," he said.

Prices of coarse and fine rice verities went up Tk 2-3 per kg at retail shops over the last one week.

Nazrul Islam, a retailer at Karwan Bazar, said coarse varieties, including BR-28, rose to Tk 55 per kg from Tk 52 to Tk 53.

The price of miniket rice went up to Tk 68 from Tk 65 per kg. The price of nazirshail, another fine rice, was Tk 67 a kg, which increased to Tk 70, he said.

Omar Faruk, a wholesaler at Mohammadpur Krishi Market, yesterday said the government recently announced that it would increase purchase prices of paddy and rice by Tk 2 per kg this year.

This year, the government fixed the purchase price of Aman paddy at Tk 30 a kg, boiled rice at Tk 44 per kg, and white rice (Atap) at Tk 43 per kg. Since then, mill owners have increased the price of rice, citing shortage of paddy in the market.

The price of broiler chicken has also shot up. A week ago, broiler chicken was sold at Tk 180-190 a kg. It is now being sold at Tk 200-210.

The absence of government vigilance to curb the price and profiteering by a section of business people are mainly responsible for the price spiral of the commodities, said economics professor Selim Raihan at Dhaka University.

"Even after a long period of time, why this problem could not be solved by importing daily essentials or intervention in the market?" he asked.