Prices of essential commodities, including rice, vegetables and chicken, remained high in Dhaka鈥檚 kitchen markets on Tuesday.
Additionally, the supply of packaged soya bean oil remained insufficient to meet consumer demand on the third day of Ramadan.
During visits to different areas of the capital, 抖阴精品 found that while kitchen markets received some supplies of soya bean oil, many general stores were still facing shortages.
Commerce adviser Sk Bashir Uddin assured on Monday that the supply would normalise within two days, though a similar promise made on February 12 remains unfulfilled.
Meanwhile, edible oil supplier TK Group claimed that daily distribution was adequate and blamed market manipulation for the crisis.
The ongoing shortage has driven up the price of unpackaged soya bean oil, now selling at Tk 180-210 per liter, compared to Tk聽165 previously.
Besides edible oil, consumers also expressed concerns over rising prices of essential goods, including spices and fruits.
Fruit prices have sharply increased, with apples selling at Tk聽280-450 per kg, sweet oranges at Tk聽300-350, and mandarin oranges at Tk聽350-400. In the past 2-3 weeks, apple prices rose by Tk聽100 per kg, sweet oranges by Tk聽100-120, and mandarin oranges by Tk聽60-70.
Rice prices ranged from Tk聽55-100 per kg, with coarse and medium-quality rice available at Tk聽55-65, while fine Miniket rice sold at Tk聽75-82. Prices have risen by Tk聽1-2 per kg in the last three days.
Lemons, a key Ramadan staple, saw a steep price hike, selling at Tk聽80-140 per hali, nearly three times the price from January 31, when it was Tk聽30-32 per hali.
Chickpeas were priced at Tk聽105-110 per kg, down from Tk聽130-140 in January. Meanwhile, broiler chicken prices increased to Tk聽210-220 per kg from Tk聽190-210 in late January, and Sonalika chicken was selling at Tk聽320-330 per kg.
The price of white pepper increased to Tk聽1,400鈥�1,450 a kilogram from Tk聽1,300-1,50 a kilogram, that of cardamom rose to Tk聽5,000鈥�5,500 a kilogram from Tk聽3,000鈥�3,500 a kilogram, that of cumin went up to Tk聽600鈥�7,000 a kilogram from Tk 550鈥�570 a kilogram, that of cinnamon rose to Tk聽500鈥�550 from Tk 300鈥�350 a kilogram in the past one month.
Vegetable prices have also surged since late January.
Aubergine was selling at Tk 80-100 per kg, increasing by Tk 20-40 in recent days. Onions saw a slight decline, with the local variety selling at Tk 48-55 per kg. Egg prices also dropped slightly, selling at Tk 42-46 per hali, down by Tk 2-6 since January 31.
Red lentil prices have surged ahead of Ramadan, with the coarse variety selling at Tk 120-125 per kg, the medium variety at Tk 130, and the fine variety at Tk 135-140.
