The prices of mutton hit as high as Tk 900 per kilogram on Friday although the goat population has been increasing gradually in the country.
At Kaptan Bazar, the biggest market for mutton in the city, the price hit Tk 850-Tk 880 a kg and other mutton at Tk 720-760 a kg on Thursday.
City traders said rising prices of animals in the villages and higher charges in the Gabtoli cattle market pushed up the mutton rates in Dhaka.
The Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM) found a big gap between the mutton prices in Dhaka city and upazila headquarters.
The DAM data showed that the prices of mutton rose by 8.0-10 per cent in rural and suburban areas in last three months.
Haji Iman Ali, secretary of Kaptan Bazar Meat Traders Association, told the FE that prices of animals increased sharply due to a total halt to import from India. "It is not possible for us to sell mutton at prices below Tk 850 a kg now," he said.
A goat weighing 13-14 kg was selling at Tk 10,500-Tk 11,000 at Gabtoli against the highest price of Tk 9,500 few months back.
Bangladesh Meat Merchants Association secretary general Rabiul Islam said the leaseholders of the Gabtoli cattle market are charging much higher fees against fixed rates, resulting in further hike in meat prices.
Mr Islam said licence-holders can buy a goat from the cattle market by paying a charge of Tk 70 but non-licensees have to pay 5.0 per cent on the cattle price.
As 70 per cent meat traders have no licences, they have to pay Tk 300-Tk 500 per animal, he added.
He said more than 8,000 applications for licences have been pending with the Dhaka North City Corporation for years, prompting the Gabtoli leaseholders to collect more money in fees.
The Department of Livestock Services (DLS) data showed that the goat population in the country increased to 25.9 million in 2018 from 25.6 million in 2016.
DLS said the country is now self-sufficient as goat population has been increasing notably after imposition of restrictions on animal exports by the Indian government since 2014.
Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) secretary Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan said the rise in animal population could hardly help commoners as middlemen eat up all benefits.
He claimed that prices of red meat are soaring as the government agencies concerned failed to tackle the worrying trend of market manipulation.
"Unscrupulous traders have become habituated to increasing the prices of food items due to lack of monitoring."
Apart from the holy month of Ramadan, he said, the city corporations should fix the prices of meat for all the year round to keep prices within the reach of commoners.
