The gazetting of the new national pay scale has had no immediate effect on retail food prices in Dhaka. A round of Kaptan Bazar, Nawabganj Bazar and the markets of Islambagh and Lalbagh on Saturday, 20 September, checked against official price data, found rice, lentils, broiler chicken, eggs, farmed fish and vegetables mostly selling at the same high levels as before. Traders say prices still hinge on supply and production, not on public-sector salaries.

Coarse rice retails at Tk 50-52 a kilogram, BR-28 at Tk 52-55, miniket at Tk 70-78 and nazirshail at Tk 75-88. Local split masur lentils cost Tk 118-125, whole local masur Tk 148-156 and ordinary imported masur Tk 90-96.

Broiler chicken has held at Tk 190-200 a kilogram for about six weeks — some Tk 20 above the price a month and a half ago, and well above the Tk 140-150 it fell to a few months back; sonali sells at Tk 340-360 and hybrid or colour-bird at Tk 300-330. Farm eggs cost Tk 150 a dozen for brown and about Tk 140 for white, unchanged for six weeks. A Kaptan Bazar trader said heat, heavy rain and flooding in some areas had cut farm output, and with supply short the price was not coming down.

Fish is dear too: rui of 2.5-3 kg at Tk 400-420 a kilogram, katla Tk 420-440, pangas Tk 250-300, tilapia Tk 250-280, pabda Tk 400-450 and hilsa Tk 500-2,000 depending on size. The steepest rise over three months is in aromatic rice — chinigura and atap have gone from Tk 90-100 to Tk 170-200 a kilogram, and grades that sold at Tk 120 now fetch Tk 220-230; traders link it to the announced export of 61,000 tonnes of rice and the pull of world prices.

TCB data show loose atta up Tk 3 a kilogram and loose and packaged maida up about Tk 5 in a month. An announced rise in bakery prices on that account has been put on hold at the commerce ministry's initiative while a committee reviews production costs.

Among vegetables, round brinjal and carrot cost Tk 140 a kilogram, green chilli Tk 160, yard-long bean Tk 120, long brinjal and tomato Tk 100, pointed gourd, ridge gourd, sponge gourd, snake gourd, bitter gourd and cucumber Tk 80, and taro, sweet pumpkin and okra Tk 60; papaya, at Tk 30, is the cheapest, with bottle gourd at Tk 40-60 a piece and green banana Tk 40 for four. A shopper at Lalbagh said chicken and eggs were not coming down and fish was as dear as ever, and running a household was getting hard. The report is by Risingbd's staff correspondent.

Source: Risingbd