Consumers across the country, particularly low-income groups, have been bearing the brunt of high prices of essential food items for the past few weeks. However, the price of broiler chicken has broken all previous records as it climbed to an all-time high slot at Tk 290 a kilogram in Dhaka city's kitchen markets on Monday. Broiler chicken has seen a 90-100 per cent hike in the past two months, according to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB). Beef or mutton has already become a luxury item both for the poor and middle-class families. If broiler meat price increases further, it will also go beyond the means of fixed-income groups.
A number of traders have blamed an unusual rise in the price of one-day-old chicks and poultry feed as the main cause behind the sudden increase in poultry chicken and egg prices. Unfortunately, it is the poor who have to bear the consequences of the surging inflation. Many people can no longer afford broiler chicken that they used as an alternative to mutton or beef. The authorities concerned must do something to control the rising prices of broiler chicken.
An authoritative source has found that the production cost is not as high as the farms claim. The price of a kilogram of broiler can be slashed by Tk 50 outright. This is reason enough for the government to intervene in this unholy business of market manipulation.
Fariha Tabassum Piya,
Student of Department of Management,
University of Dhaka, Dhaka,
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