Fish prices increased further last week raising woes of the consumers.
Prices of ginger and garlic, however, showed a slight decline while that of most other commodities remained stable in the last seven days ending Thursday.
River fishes, including hilsa, pabda, shrimp, ruhi, katla and shoul increased by Tk 40-Tk 150 per kilogram.
Cultured koi, ruhi, katla and pangasea also witnessed a Tk 10-Tk 20 hike at per kg during the period.
Traders attributed the price hike to the growing demand of fish fueled by the upcoming English new year and the general election.
Indigenous varieties ruhi (over 3.0 kg in weight) was sold at Tk 450-Tk 650 per kg and katla at Tk 380-Tk 550 a kg at Karwan Bazar and New Market Banalata Kanchabazar.
Hilsa weighing 600-850 grams (gm) was sold at Tk 450-Tk 700 per piece on Thursday.
Bigger-sized hilsa (over 1,000 gm) sold at Tk 1,350 to 2100 a piece.
Shrimp of different quality and sizes was selling at Tk 450-Tk 1,050 a kg, shoul at Tk 450-Tk 600, pabda at Tk 550-Tk 950 on the day.
Cultured koi price increased to Tk 200-Tk 230 per kg and ruhi Tk 180-Tk 280 a kg based on size.
Rafiqul Alam, a fish vendor at Rayer Bazar in the capital, said prices had increased notably at the Mawa wholesale market in the last one-and-half-week.
He said the upcoming election and the New Year celebration are causing further rise in prices of both meat and fish.
City-dwellers are buying more fishes and meat than they usually do and storing the protein items in fridge ahead of those occasions, he said.
Mortuza Khan Montu, president of Bangladesh Fish Traders Association (BFTA), told the FE the demand for fish has increased amid a surge in meat prices.
He said prices of beef and hilsa have an impact over other protein items.
Ginger prices showed Tk 10 decline and was sold at Tk 90-Tk 130 a kg while garlic was sold at Tk 50-60 (local) and Tk 70-Tk 90 per kg last week.
The prices of local tomato and newly-harvested potato also witnessed a decline during the period.
