Onion price has crossed Tk 100 per kg ahead of the Eid-ul-Azha, ridiculing government efforts to rein it in and add to its cup of woes and stinging the homemakers.
Price of the staple has been shooting up over the past two months. The government provided facilities for importing onion, lowered interest rates before importing onion itself to curb the price.
On Friday, onion sold at Tk 100 to Tk 110 per kg by retailers in the capital — an increase of up to Tk 30 in the matter of a week.
According to the list provided by the government’s trading arm, the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), onion sold at Tk 80 to Tk 100 depending on quality.
Retailers blamed the hike on wholesalers.
A wholesale merchant at Karwan Bazar, Babul Hossain, said transport cost had increased, causing a rise in the vegetable’s price.
The TCB took measures like selling onion in the open market, fixing the ceiling for bank interest rates for traders, lowering the LC margin and prioritising the commodity’s release at ports. However, the measures apparently have gone in vain as they failed to cool the price.
Onion prices first doubled two months ago, when India suddenly stopped export. The price then stood at Tk 80 in Bangladesh.
The government took initiatives to import the vegetable at public and private levels from various countries to rein in the price.
It was sold at Tk 47 per kg in the open market by the TCB but later the price was raised by Tk 8.
However, the retail price increase was higher compared to the wholesale market. Each kg sold at Tk 65 to Tk 70 in the wholesale market last week, but on Friday the price soared by as much as Tk 10 per kg.
The retail market has been bumpy. Last week, the commodity was priced at Tk 75 to Tk 80 per kg, but on Friday it was as high as Tk 110.
Prices of ginger and green chilly have increased. Each kg of ginger sold at Tk 120 to Tk 140 on Friday. They were priced between Tk 100 and Tk 120 last week.
Green chilly sold at Tk 120 per kg on Friday, although last week it was available at Tk 90.
Source: Bd news24
