The Bangladesh Book Publishers and Sellers Association has decided to raise book prices by up to 27 per cent in the new year due to rising prices of paper.
The imports of paper and pulp have fallen due to a dollar crisis. Amid the shortage of paper, the prices of books and exercise books have rising, raising concerns about printing creative books for the Amar Ekushey Book Fair in February.
Shyamal Paul, a vice-president of the association, said: “Our business needs to survive after paper prices have increased threefold. We may need to charge Tk 1,200 in place of Tk 400 for a book, but no one will buy books in that case. People will suffer. So, we’ve announced a nominal price rise.”
He said many publishers are not happy with the decision because they think they will not be able to make profits with a rise in the rate set by the association. “But we’ve nothing to do,” Shyamal said, hoping that the crisis will end soon.
Traders at book hub Nilkhet said prices of many books, including guides for textbooks and jobs preparation, have gone up.
Abul Kalam Azad, whose daughter is set to take the SSC exams next year from Monipur High School, said the prices of model test books and notebooks have doubled from last year and many of them are not available now. “(And) There's been a fall in paper quality.”
Mostafa Kamal, owner of Kamal Library and Stationary in Mohammadpur, said the price of SSC test paper has increased by nearly 50 per cent from Tk 2,800.
In Cumilla, the owner of book store Boi Niketan, Md Abdul Hannan, said sales have slowed down. “People are struggling to buy food, let alone books.”
Shyamal called for government measures to ease the situation, saying paper prices have decreased in the international market, but not in Bangladesh.
“The crisis will end only if the government cuts the duty on imports of paper and pulp.”