Prices of vegetables, fruits, meats and other essentials used for preparing iftar items shot up further in kitchen markets of the capital yesterday on the eve of Ramadan.
Taking the opportunity of weak market monitoring, traders in kitchen markets are charging high prices at will, alleged many shoppers.
The state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) is going to sell some essential commodities for fair prices during the month of Ramadan that starts today.
TCB will sell sugar, soybean oil, chickpea and onion through its mobile outlets on trucks, and in its retail sales centres everyday through the month except Fridays.
Visiting different city markets, The Daily Star correspondents found different prices of the same commodity in different shops, and an unusual wide gap between wholesale and retail prices.
People were seen thronging city kitchen markets throughout the day yesterday as news confirmed the start of Ramadan today, the month of fasting for the Muslims.
Karwan Bazar, the largest wholesale kitchen market in the capital, along with other kitchen markets was buzzing with shoppers.
Heated exchanges between shoppers and traders, over prices of essentials, were seen in different places.
Supply of different essentials in Karwan Bazar, Hatirpul Bazar, New Market, Mohammadpur Town Hall Market, and Mohammadpur Krishi Market was adequate.
Prices of most vegetables and items used for preparing iftar like green chilli, aubergine, onion, cucumber, lemon, puffed rice, local chickpea, sugar, molasses, and fruits like date, ripe papaya, banana, apple, oranges, grape, mango and watermelon saw a fresh sharp hike in the last two days.
Many consumers, especially of the limited income group, expressed their resentments over yet another hike in prices of essentials.
They held the government responsible for failing to ensure market monitoring.
Price of green chilli climbed up to Tk 80 to Tk 100 a kilogram (kg) yesterday although it had been selling for Tk 60 to Tk 70 just two days ago. Most of the traders however sold green chilli for Tk 100 a kg yesterday.
Price of aubergine, fried slices of which is a popular iftar item, fluctuated immensely yesterday as traders sold a kg of aubergine for Tk 35 to Tk 70, two days ago which had been Tk 30 to Tk 40.
A trader in Karwan Bazar was seen selling aubergine for Tk 45 a kg yesterday while another trader in a nearby shop in the same market was seen selling the same quality aubergine for Tk 50 while some others were selling it for Tk 60 even.
The same quality aubergine was selling for Tk 32 to Tk 38 a kg in a nearby wholesale market just 30 yards away in earlier hours of the day.
Prices of both local and imported varieties of onion jumped up by Tk 2 a kg in the last two days.
The imported variety was selling for Tk 25 to Tk 29 a kg yesterday while the local variety was selling for Tk 32 to Tk 37 a kg compared to the local onion prices of Tk 30 to Tk 35 a kg and imported onion prices of Tk 23 to Tk 27 a kg two days ago.
Prices of different qualities of cucumbers rose by Tk 5 to Tk 10 a kg in the last two days, which were selling for Tk 20 to Tk 30 a kg yesterday while prices of lemons increased by Tk 1 to Tk 3 for four pieces, selling for Tk 8 to Tk 15.
Prices of different qualities of puffed rice jumped by Tk 4 to Tk 5 a kg, selling for Tk 52 to Tk 85 a kg.
Although prices of chickpeas had come down by Tk 2 to Tk 3 in wholesale markets over the last week, some retailers were seen selling those for prices which are higher by Tk 2 to Tk 3 compared to the prices of two days ago. A kg of different qualities of chickpeas was selling for Tk 52 to Tk 60 yesterday.
Price of sugar rose by Tk 1 to Tk 2 a kg, and was selling for Tk 37 to Tk 40 a kg yesterday while the price of molasses rose by Tk 5.
Demand for molasses increase during Ramadan as sherbets prepared with molasses are very popular among the Muslims who fast.
Molasses were selling for Tk 45 to Tk 50 a kg yesterday.
The prices of almost all kinds of fruits, demand for which also increases during Ramadan, have doubled this year compared to last year's.
The price of date, an essential iftar item, rose by Tk 20-50 per kg. Low quality dates, sold for Tk 50 per kg last year, were sold for Tk 80-100 per kg yesterday.
The price of medium quality dates, sold for Tk 80-90 per kg last year, jumped to Tk 120 from Tk 160 per kg.
The price of a papaya rose to Tk 50-120 from Tk 30-80. The price of banana also increased by Tk 5-10 a dozen, sold for Tk 30-60 yesterday.
The prices of apple, mango and grape increased by Tk 20-100 per kg in the last week.
Apple was sold for Tk 120-160 a kg while the price of mango was Tk 90-180 per kg yesterday. Grape was sold for Tk 400-500 per kg.
The price of a watermelon was between Tk 120 and 200.
The prices of battery chicken increased by Tk 5 per kg, sold for Tk 120-130 while the price of free-range chicken went up by Tk 5-10.
The prices of beef and buffalo meat rose by Tk 10 per kg, which were sold for Tk 200-210 and Tk 170-180 respectively.
The price of mutton also increased by Tk 10-20 per kg, sold for Tk 240-320 a kg yesterday.
Although the prices of non-brand edible oil went down by Tk 12-20 in retail markets in the last 15 days, the prices of brand edible oil remained stable after its price went down by Tk 4-6 per litre.
Many consumers said although the price of edible oil decreased by Tk 30 on the international market, its price went down slightly in the city markets.
Meantime, the BDR-run fair price outlets remained open yesterday, a weekly holiday.
Under the TCB programme, sugar will be sold at Tk 30 per kg, chickpea at Tk 50 a kg, and onion at Tk 20 a kg. Each 2-litre container of soya bean oil will be sold for Tk 216, 5-litre container for Tk 540 and 8-litre container for Tk 864, said a TCB press release.