Prices of the key essential commodities still keep surging unabatedly long before the fasting month of Ramadan despite some pragmatic approaches taken by government agencies.
Beef, broiler chicken, eggs, cultured ruhi, onion, sugar, chickpea, coarse and medium lentils, coarse and medium rice, loose palm oil and loose soybean oil got costlier again last week, in continuation of the uptrend for the last one month, said market sources.
Beef prices jumped to Tk750-820 a kg on Friday from Tk750-780 a kg earlier while it was Tk650-700 a kg a month back.
Golam Mortuza, president of the Meat Traders Association, said farmers have reduced sale of cattle targeting more profits ahead of Shab-e-Barat and the Ramadan.
He also said big dairy farms' syndicate has remained active across the country to raise prices of cattle.
Martuza urged the government to monitor activities of the dairy farms in Dhaka and the cow producing belts to keep a control over the market situation.
He also said rising prices of beef have also helped other protein items to get costlier too.
Broiler chicken sold at Tk210-220 a kg and cultured ruhi at Tk350-500 a kg on Friday marking notable hike further.
Prices of sugar, edible oil, lentil and chickpea witnessed further rise last week.
Md Hafizul Islam, a grocer at Buddhijibir Dhal in Rayer Bazar area, said traders have raised prices of key essential commodities for another round before Shab-e-Barat festival (An Islamic festival two weeks before the Ramadan).
He added sugar prices showed a minimal reduction (Tk1.5-2.0 a kg) in the last week of January but increased by Tk4.0-5.0 a kg again last week.
He said wholesale price of the sweetener surged to Tk138-142 a kg on Thursday.
Loose palm and soybean oil have also showed a Tk 4.0-6.0 a litre hike further ahead of the holy festivals.
Traders are supplying chickpea, lentil and khesari pulses on a limited scale to groceries, targeting to raise prices further, he added.
Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) secretary Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan said despite numerous warnings from the commerce, food, and agriculture ministers and extensive market interventions, the situation remains unchanged - prices continue to rise.
He said absence of stringent penalties for wrongdoers is the key reason for such situation.
Bhuiyan said current market enforcement efforts merely involve imposing fines, without any real consequences such as imprisonment.
"And consequently, traders remain undeterred by fines and continue their practices unabated," he said.
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