All efforts fail to arrest price hike

All efforts by the government and regulatory agencies have failed to arrest the growing prices of essentials during the month of Ramadan, according to a news agency.
The government has banned exports of several items and tightened vigil on markets while state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) started sale of some products at low prices in open market ahead of Ramadan.
But the ban on exports of eggplant, cucumber, green chilli, garlic and coriander leaves from June 25 failed to contain spiralling of their price.
On the first Friday of Ramadan, eggplant was selling at Tk 80-100 per kilogram in Dhaka’s kitchen markets against Tk 50-60 a week back, cucumber at Tk 48-50 against Tk 25-30 and green chilli at Tk 60-65 against Tk 50-60.
The prices of potato, garlic and ginger also registered a stiff rise. Per kg of potato was sold at Tk 25-26, garlic at Tk 80-85 and ginger at Tk 160-240 Friday.