Shawdesh Desk:

Prices of essential commodities, including lentil, flour, onion, potato, chicken, eggs, garlic, pulses and vegetables, continue to soar in the capital, leaving the people with fixed and low income to feel the pinch.

Prices of a large number of commodities had inflated before Eid-ul-Fitr, the biggest religious festival of Muslims. However, those continue to rise without showing any sign of decrease.

Lower and middle-income people have been facing trouble to maintain their monthly expenses due to the continuous hike in prices of the daily essentials.

Fourteen food items got costlier further while three cheaper in the last one week in the capital, according to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).

The price of loose atta increased by 10.96 percent in a week and was selling at Tk 36-45 per kg while that of packaged atta by 6.90 percent to Tk 45-48 a kg and the price of loose flour jumped by 4.42 percent to Tk 58-60 per kg.

The supply of soybean oil has increased slightly in the market but consumers had to buy it at higher price than the government-fixed one.

The new price of bottled soybean oil was fixed at Tk 198 per litre while that of loose one at Tk 180.

The price of loose palm oil soared by 4.48 percent to Tk 172-178 a litre and that of super palm oil by 7.02 percent to sell at Tk 180-186 per litre, according to the TCB.

The price of big lentil increased by 5 percent in a week and was selling at Tk 100-110 per kg while that of medium one by 4.44 percent to Tk 115-120 per kg and small lentil by 2 percent to Tk 125-130 per kg.

The onion market started to become unstable over the last couple of days as its price increased to Tk 40-50 per kg from Tk 30-35 per kg a week earlier.

The price of local variety jumped by 38.46 percent to Tk 40-50 per kg and that of imported one by 30.77 percent to Tk 40-45 per kg.

The price of pulses shot up by 3.57 percent to Tk 70-75 per kg while that of potato by 19.44 percent to Tk 18-25 per kg, newly harvested garlic by 38.46 percent to Tk 80-100 and the price of imported garlic by 13.04 percent to Tk 120-140 per kg, according to the TCB.

Dry chili, turmeric, ginger, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, beef, broiler chicken and farm eggs also saw a rise in their prices, the TCB data show.

Beef was selling at Tk 700-720 per kg at different kitchen markets, showing a hike by Tk 10-20 per kg.

The broiler price witnessed a 4.55 percent hike and was selling at Tk 165-180 per kg while sonali chicken was selling at the previous high price of Tk 300-320 per kg.

Farm egg price increased to Tk 120 per dozen against last week’s Tk 105-112 per dozen.

Brinjal was retailing at Tk 80-100 per kg, cucumber at Tk 60, carrot at Tk 100 and tomato at Tk 60 per kg at the Mohammadpur Krishi Market.

Pointer gourd was available at Tk 60 per kg, okra at Tk 50, arum lobe at Tk 80, green papaya at Tk 40, yeardlong bean at Tk 60, gourd at Tk 60 apiece and red amaranth at Tk 15 per bunch.

Venting his anger, Saiful Alam, a private company employee, said the prices of all the essential commodities have been increasing. “But there’s no hike in our salary.”

Sirajul Islam, a vegetable trader at the market, said the demand for vegetables is on the rise after Eid while the production has declined, leading to the price hike.