Prices of fish, beef, chicken and garlic increased further last week, raising sufferings of the consumers, especially limited income groups, with the beginning of Ramadan.
The government's withdrawal of fishing ban in the major rivers and sanctuaries under 32 districts from May 1 didn't yield any positive impact on the city fish market, rather the protein item became pricier, said insiders.
Prices of both cultured and indigenous fishes increased significantly last week compounding woes of the commoners as another key protein source for them - broiler chicken - also became costlier.
The price of cultured ruhi fish increased to Tk 230-370 a kilogram, based on size, from Tk 220-350 a kg last week. Cultured katla, koi, tilapia and pangasea also witnessed a Tk 20-40 hike per kg in last seven days.
Indigenous ruhi, katla, shrimp, pabda, golsha, shoul, tengra, bata, topshe, kajoli, batashi and other fishes witnessed a Tk 100-200 hike at per kg.
Fresh golda and bagda shrimps were sold at Tk 650- 1,100 a kg, based on their sizes, on Thursday.
Riverine rui and katla of different sizes were traded at Tk 500-650 a kg in Karwan Bazar and New Market area on the day.
Indigenous pabda were selling at Tk 700-1,050 a kg and shoul at Tk 450-600.
The price of Hilsa, however, slightly declined last week but not to the expected level of the consumers.
Md Razzaque Ali, a fish vendor at Banalata Kitchen Market beside the New Market said both supply and prices increased at Mawa wholesale market of Munshiganj in the last seven days.
He said supply of indigenous fish doubly increased at Mawa Ghat and Dhaka's Shoarighat after the removal of fishing ban in southern districts.
Mortuza Khan Montu, President of Bangladesh Fish Merchants Association said district level traders (Mohajons) raised prices to make hefty profit during the holy month of Ramadan.
He said the government should deploy mobile courts to address the issue in the districts where the rivers and sanctuaries are situated.
The country produces 4.0 million tonnes of fish annually of which capital Dhaka alone consumes 1.2 million tonnes.
Though the two city corporations (Dhaka south and north) had fixed beef and other red meat prices a day before the starting of the Ramadan, most of the meat shops were yet to follow the price chart, found the FE correspondent while visiting city meat outlets on Thursday.
Beef prices were fixed at Tk 500-525 a kg on May 6 by the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC). More than 50 per cent of the shops were still trading the meat at Tk 550-600 a kg.
Some shops were found selling beef at Tk 525 a kg on the day, especially at kitchen markets.
Beef prices witnessed 8.0-10 per cent hike in the last seven days basing on quality of the meat, according to the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).
Indigenous chicken prices increased to Tk 500-550 a kg last week from Tk 450-480.
Broiler chicken remained also high at Tk 150-160 a kg and layer at Tk 190-200 in the seven days.
Adviser to Conscious Consumers Society Shihab Uddin Khan said hike in prices of cultured fish, broiler chicken and other protein sources have directly been affecting the limited income people.
The district level fish traders, city wholesales and retails should come under the government scrutiny in order to control the soaring fish prices during the fasting month for Muslims, said Khan, also a Supreme Court lawyer.
He said they noticed that market monitoring was absent as prices of key essential items were being increased illogically before the start of Ramadan month.
Most of the meat traders were not following the price of beef and goat meat fixed by the city corporation for the holy month, he said.
"As consumers, it feels that we are being cheated," he added.
Garlic prices increased by Tk 20-30 per kg as local variety was sold at Tk 80-100 a kg and imported Chinese one at Tk 140-150 a kg on the day.
Vegetables prices were more or less static in the week but still remained too high as most of the items were sold at Tk 50-90 per kg.
