Prices of onion, hilsa and vegetables marked a sharp rise this week, adding to the woes of low-income groups.
Of them, onion prices swung wildly after neighbouring India imposed a ban on the export of the essential kitchen item on Sunday.
The key spice saw its price shoot up to Tk 100-130 a kg on Monday from Tk 70-80 as soon as the announcement of the ban came.
The price, however, eased to some extent at the end of the week, with different varieties were selling at Tk 85-Tk 110 a kg on the retail market on Thursday.
Still, the current price is 22-27 percent higher than a week ago and 70-80 per cent than two and a half weeks ago, according to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) data.
Wholesale traders at Shyambazar and Karwan Bazar were selling onion at Tk 76-80 a kg (imported) and Tk 85-95 a kg (local) on Thursday depending on quality.
In the wake of price surge, TCB started open market sale at 35 points of the city, selling onion at Tk 45 a kg.
A total of 35 tonnes of onion are being sold every day at the OMS sale points where a large number of people were seen queueing up to buy the spice.
The commerce ministry also stepped in and sent ten vigilance teams to different onion hubs to oversee the supply situation.
The commerce secretary announced that the country has a stock of 0.3 million tonnes of onion, which is enough to meet the demand in the next two months.
Moreover, a significant volume of the spice were being imported from Myanmar, Turkey and Egypt, he said.
A meeting on the onion supply situation was held at the Directorate of National Consumers Right Protection (DNCRP) on Thursday, with its Director General Bablu Kumar Shaha in the chair.
Representatives of retailers and super chain shops attended the meeting. The directorate asked them to keep the vouchers for onion they sourced from the wholesalers.
Director General Bablu Kumar Shaha said the retailers will have to show the receipts for onion they bought from the wholesalers.
The country produced 1.9 million tonnes of onion and imported 1.0 million tonnes this year against the demand for 2.4 million tonnes, according to the commerce ministry.
Meanwhile, hilsa prices started increasing this week, which traders attributed to squeezing supply.
Many traders claimed that the permission to export the fish to the neighbouring country has also pushed the price higher.
On Thursday, hilsa was selling at Tk 800-Tk 1500 a kg depending on the size and quality, registering a hike of Tk 250-300 in a week.
Md Mosharraf Hossain, a Jatrabari-based trader, said prices started increasing in the hilsa hubs, including Barishal, Barguna, Chittagong, Cox's Bazar and Chandpur.
Many traders are also stocking up hilsa ahead of the three-week ban on fishing beginning from October 9, causing the price to go up, he added.
Abdur Rahman, a vendor at Rayer Bazar, said big traders in the hilsa hubs raised the prices following the government permission to export 500 tonnes of hilsa to India.
Bangladesh produces 0.49 million tonnes of hilsa a year, making up 12 per cent of its total fish production.
Consumers were also hit by price hike of vegetables, as many items saw an increase of Tk 5.0-Tk 15 a kg in a week.
The price hike is due to supply crunch, said traders.
Snake gourd, bitter gourd, brinjal, pointed gourd, spnge gourd, pumpkin and eddo became dearer.
The price of chilli went up by Tk 10 a kg to Tk 90-100.
