Prices of some rice varieties, vegetables and fish have registered a rise further in the last one week, much to the misery of low-income families.
Coarse, medium and finer rice varieties showed a price hike of Tk 4.0-6.0 per kilogram last week.
Coarse rice retailed at Tk 55-56, medium BRRI-28 at Tk 66-68, and finer miniket and nazirshail (loose) at Tk 75-82 a kg.
Md Juel Rana, a West Dhanmondi grocer, said rice prices have increased by Tk 150-200 per 50-kg sack at Mohammadpur Agricultural Market in a week.
Traders have been charging Tk 3,200 a sack for BRRI dhan 28 and Tk 3,590-3,620 a sack for quality jeerashail/miniket, according to him.
Market experts said rice traders were now on the prowl to make a windfall profit by raising rice prices notably despite having an all-time high production of the food grain in the country.
Meanwhile, Consumers Association of Bangladesh vice-president SM Nazer Hossain urged home and commerce ministries to look into the matter immediately and start strict market monitoring to keep rice prices within the reach of consumers.
He also called or zero duty on rice import instead of 15 per cent following a hike in the global rice prices.
Meanwhile, prices of some vegetables witnessed a further hike by Tk 10 a kg as brinjal sold at Tk 120-160, long-yard bean at Tk 120-140 and pointed gourd at Tk 100-110 a kg.
On the other hand, bottle gourd was priced at Tk 70-100 apiece.
However, egg prices declined to Tk 150-160 a dozen in groceries from Tk 160-170 a week ago.
Prices of both cultured and riverine fish have increased further as traders attributed the three-week ban on fishing in sanctuaries under the government's hilsa conservation programme.
Cultured pangas, koi, tilapia, ruhi, katla and pabda witnessed a hike by Tk 40-50 a kg in a week, causing further woes to people on low incomes.
Pangas retailed at Tk 180-250 a kg depending on size, koi at Tk 220-280 and tilapia at Tk 200-260 on Thursday, while cultured ruhi and katla at Tk 400-500.
Prices of riverine fish, including pabda, shrimp, ruhi, katla and shoal increased by Tk 100-150 a kg.
Indigenous ruhi was traded at Tk 600-1,250 a kg and katla at Tk 550-1,000 depending on their sizes.
On the other hand, shrimp retailed at Tk 750-1,350 a kg, shoal at Tk 650-850, riverine pabda and ayr at Tk 750-1,350.
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