People crowded kitchen markets in the city on Friday as vegetables, fish and green chilli became pricier last week adding to the woes of consumers.
Traders said the demand for vegetables rose notably as hundreds of thousands of people have returned to the city in the last one and a half weeks especially after the reopening of industrial units from August 1.
Besides, they said, heavy rain in some vegetable growing hubs of the country has damaged crops, resulting in a price hike further.
Green chilli price hit Tk 150-180 a kilogram on Friday, up by more than 80 per cent just in a week.
Prices of most summer vegetables also increased by Tk 10-15 a kg last week as sold in between Tk 50 and Tk 80 per kg. Brinjal prices rose to Tk 50-60 from Tk 35-45 a kg.
Snake gourd, sponge gourd, teasel gourd, pointed gourd, ladies-finger and ridge gourd were retailed at Tk 50-60 while bitter gourd and clocasia stem at Tk 60-70, and long-yard bean at Tk 70-80 a kg.
Prices of pumpkin, papaya and bottle gourd, however, remained static.
Prices of tomato and carrot, two off-season items, also increased by Tk 10 a kg and were retailed at Tk 100-120 a kg.
Green chilli showed highest Tk 40-Tk 60 hike as sold at Tk 150-180 a kg on the day.
Malek Uddin, a vegetable vendor at Mohammadpur Agricultural Market (Krishi Market) in the city, said prices started increasing one and a half weeks ago amid heavy rain at veggie growing hubs in Chattogram, Barishal, Sylhet, Khulna and Mymensingh regions.
"Green chilli prices shot up to Tk 140-150 a kg in the wholesale markets today (Friday) which was Tk100-110 three days earlier."
The chilli prices increased to such a rate as import of the item now remained suspended due to restrictions on the border amid the ongoing lockdown, he added.
Juber Alam, a wholesaler at Shyambazar in the city, said apart from rain-induced crop losses, a rise in the demand also caused the price hike.
The people crowding the markets since last one week with reopening of industrial units from August 1, he added.
Brinjal prices were Tk 38-40 a kg at farm level in Narsingdi and Cumilla against Tk 26-30 a kg one week back, he said.
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the country produces 2.0 million tonnes of summer vegetables and 0.15 million tonnes of green chilli annually.
The prices of both riverine and cultured fish also showed a significant hike last week, hitting people's pockets.
Cultured ruhi and katla were sold between Tk 280 and Tk 350 and riverine varieties at Tk 400-550 a kg on the day---a Tk 50-80 hike.
Cultured shrimp, pabda, golsha prices shot up to Tk 550-700 a kg and riverine species to Tk 650-950 a kg---up by Tk 50-100 a kg in a week.
Prices of kachki fish, and small-sized shrimp (known as ichha) went up by Tk 150 to Tk 600-700 a kg.
Though supply of Hilsa has increased, prices of medium and big-sized ones remained static at Tk 1,000-1,800 a kg in the market based on its size and quality.
Cultured tilapia, koi and pangasea prices also witnessed Tk 20-30 hike per kg.
Meanwhile, prices of loose soybean and palm oil also showed a hike last week.
Loose soybean was retailed at Tk 126-135 a litre, super palm at Tk 116-122 a litre and normal palm oil at Tk 110-112 a litre.
However, prices of rice, pulses, sugar and other essentials remained static in the retail markets maintaining their previous high.
Coarse rice was retailed at Tk 50-52, medium quality at Tk 55-60 and finer at Tk 65-78 a kg on Friday.
Rice prices are now 12-14 per cent higher than that of last year, according to Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).
Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan, secretary of Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), said consumers are now in a tight spot due to a decline in their incomes and uptrend in essentials.
A recent hike in prices of cooking oil, fish and vegetables will directly hit the commoners during this pandemic, he added.
Mr Bhuiyan said though prices of commodities have increased at farmers' end to some extent, there is still a huge gap between the prices at farm level and city wholesale.
The price gap should be minimized through strict market monitoring, he suggested.
He also urged the government to withdraw import duty on cooking oil for a certain period aimed at keeping its prices within the buying capacity of commoners.
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