The price of green chillies remained high on the capital鈥檚 kitchen markets on Friday, selling at Tk 160-300 a kilogram, depending on variant and market, due to a supply shortage.
Moreover, prices of almost all types of vegetables also remained high, ranging from Tk 40 to Tk 100 a kilogram.
After visiting some kitchen markets and makeshift vendor shops at Kallyanpur, Agargaon and Karwan Bazar in the capital, it was observed that green chillies were sold at Tk 200-300 on small neighbourhood markets and vendor shops.
However, the price was around Tk 160-200 a kilogram on the wholesale market, such as Karwan Bazar.
The price of green chillies was at Tk 80-120 a kilogram two weeks ago and reached over Tk 300 last week.
Traders stated that due to nearly two weeks of excessive rainfall across the country, the supply of green chillies had significantly declined, leading to a sharp increase in prices.
Mohammad Sakib, a green chilli vendor at Karwan Bazar, said that due to the rain, the supply of the commodity declined, but demand remained as usual, so the price increased significantly.
鈥楧uring the rainy season, the price of green chilli always remains high. However, the supply has started to gain speed in the past two days and the prices have also began to decline,鈥� he added, saying that once the supply became normal, the price would also come down.
Prices of broiler chicken also witnessed a hike on the neighbourhood markets on Friday, reaching聽Tk 170-180, compared with that of Tk 150-160 last week.
Meanwhile, the chicken price at Karwan Bazar remained unchanged at Tk 150-160 a kilogram.
Md Sohag Bepari, owner of Kallyanpur鈥檚 Shimul Chicken House, said that due to the rain, they faced a supply shortage, which forced them to increase the price.
However, if the supply chain regains normalcy, the price would be lowered accordingly, he added.
Moreover, the prices of almost all vegetables remained high, with a fresh hike observed in the past week.聽
Vegetable traders reported that the peak season for several vegetables had either come to a close or was nearing its end, resulting in a price hike on local markets.
They also stated that as supplies decreased with the end of the season, the prices of these vegetables had increased and would remain slightly higher in the coming days until fresh produce from the new season arrived.
On Friday, onions were sold at Tk 60 a kilogram, local garlic was sold at Tk 140 a kilogram, while its imported variety was sold at Tk 200 a kilogram on the Karwan Bazar kitchen market.
Spiny gourd was sold at Tk 60 a kilogram, same as last week, where snake gourd, loofah and pointed gourd were sold at Tk 50-60 a kilogram on the market.
The price of lady fingers was Tk 40-50 a kilogram, while yardlong beans, bitter gourds and aubergines were sold for Tk 50-70 a kilogram.
Red chillies were sold at Tk 350-400 a kilogram, depending on the variant.
Cucumbers were sold for Tk 80 a kilogram in the capital on Friday.
The price of potatoes have increased slightly to Tk 25-30 a kilogram.
However, the price of the above vegetables was about Tk 10-20 higher per unit at local markets.
Traders from Karwan Bazar said that the prices of vegetables heavily relied on supply and demand.
Meanwhile, some vegetables that are currently out of season were still available on the market, but at significantly higher prices.
Among them, beans were selling for Tk 300-400 a kilogram, coriander leaves for Tk 350-400 a kilogram, while cauliflower and cabbage were being sold at Tk 80-100 apiece.
The price of Miniket rice ranged from Tk 75 to Tk 86 a kilogram, depending on the variant.
Beef was sold for Tk 750-780 a kilogram on Friday, while mutton was sold for Tk 1,100-1,250 a kilogram.
Due to a sufficient supply, the fish market has remained relatively stable.
Packaged soya bean oil was sold at Tk 189 a litre and a 5-litre bottle of the item at Tk 922, whereas the prices of unpackaged soya bean oil and palm oil was Tk 169 a litre.