Vegetable and fish prices have edged up in Dhaka's retail markets this week following the fuel price rise. Visiting Adabor bazaar, the Mohammadpur Krishi Market and Town Hall bazaar on Thursday, Prothom Alo found several vegetables up by Tk 5-20 a kilogram and fish up by Tk 20-50.

The government raised the price of all fuels on Sunday: diesel from Tk 115 to Tk 135 a litre, petrol to Tk 160 and octane to Tk 165. Truck fares rose as a result, and prices have crept up a little at every step, from the growing areas to the wholesale markets and from wholesale to retail.

Brinjal is the dearest vegetable. Sold at Tk 80-140 a kilogram four days earlier, it now costs Tk 100-160. Pointed gourd, spiny gourd and yardlong beans, which could be had for Tk 80, are selling at Tk 100-120. Before this, most vegetables had been relatively cheap for some time.

Among fish, shing (stinging catfish) is up Tk 30-50 a kilogram at around Tk 500. Koi, pabda, shrimp, tilapia, pangas and rui have also become somewhat dearer.

One- and two-litre bottles of soybean oil are scarce, and supplies of five-litre bottles have also thinned. Refiners raised bottled soybean oil by Tk 5 a litre to Tk 204 at the start of the month; supply held steady for a while after that but has fallen again. Retailers said dealers had told them the companies want to raise prices further, though supply has not fallen equally in every market.

Within a month, loose atta has risen by Tk 5 a kilogram to Tk 50 and loose flour (maida) by Tk 10 to Tk 65-70. Broiler chicken sells at Tk 180-200 a kilogram and eggs at Tk 150 a dozen, prices that have held for a month and a half after rising by about Tk 20.

The report is by a Prothom Alo staff correspondent; the prices were gathered at three Dhaka markets on Thursday.

Photo: Salim Khandoker / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Source: Prothom Alo