Prices of chickens, chilli, and all kinds of fruits and vegetables witnessed a notable increase last week, raising suffering of the consumers already hit hard by the price hike of other essentials.
Rice, which had witnessed price hikes multiple times last month, got slightly dearer at the wholesale level in the week. However, the latest cost hike of the staple at the wholesales was yet to impact its retail price in the city markets till Friday evening.
Broiler chicken, one of the main sources of protein for the commoners, also became pricier in the last two weeks. Its price reached Tk 170 a kg on Friday marking a Tk 10 a kg hike in the last seven days and Tk 30 a kg in two weeks.
Adding to the woes of the consumers, Pakistani and Sonali varieties of chickens also saw a price hike. Consumers said that they had to pay an additional Tk 20-30 for one kilogram of Pakistani and Sonali varieties chickens in the past week.
Pakistani variety (also known as 'cock') was retailed at Tk 290-320 a kg depending on size yesterday in the city markets.
Indigenous chicken was sold at Tk 550-Tk 600 a kg---a Tk 50 per kg hike in the period.
Prices of almost all kinds of widely used vegetables also showed rising trend. Traders said veg prices witnessed Tk 10-15 a kg hike last week. Brinjal, snake gourds, ridge gourds, pointed gourds, sponge gourds were sold between Tk 50 and Tk 70 a kg on the day.
Bitter gourd, long-yard bean, clocasia stem, eddo were selling at Tk 60-80 a kg.
Fruits including imported citruses, apple, grapes, pears, local mango, banana, dragon and jackfruits' prices rose significantly in the last seven days.
Imported citrus, known as malta, was retailed at Tk 220-240 a kg, apples Tk 200-260, grapes Tk 400-550 and pears Tk 220-260 a kg on the day.
Supply of mango to the markets was on the wane in the past week as the ongoing plucking seasonal of the popular fruit was nearing to the end. Popular varieties like BARI mango 4 and Amrapali were selling at Tk 170-220 a kg---Tk 30-50 a kg hike in a week.
Seasonal Fajli was selling at Tk 150-180 a kg while early harvested Aswina at Tk 120-150 a kg.
Local varieties of banana like Sabri and Sagar were selling at Tk 105-140 per dozen (12 pieces) ---a Tk 20 a dozen hike in a week.
Both green and dried chillies witnessed further hikes last week increasing the costs of the kitchen staple almost beyond the purchasing power of the commoners, according to market sources.
Green chilli prices shot up to Tk 240-280 a kg which traders attributed to supply shortage as well as lack of import.
On the other hand, dried chilli was sold at Tk 350-400 a kg marking Tk 50 a kg hike in a week.
Now turning to rice, a hike in price of the staple affects people of almost all segments of the society, including middle-class and the lower middle-class. A 50-kg sack rice increased by Tk 30-40 at the wholesales in the capital last week which is yet to impact the retails.
Retail price of coarse rice remained at its previous high of Tk 50-54 a kg, medium variety Tk 58-62 and finer one Tk 70-Tk 98 a kg in the city on Friday, according to kitchen market sources.
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