Essentials will be pricier, rain or shine

Though the Eid-ul-Fitr is over, the kitchen market shows no sign of cooling down. The essential items in the shopping list at the kitchen market including soybean oil, sugar, potato and onion are getting pricier. So are the prices of garlic and ginger. The price of soybean oil, for instance, has increased by Tk.12 per litre. As a result, it is now selling at Tk.199 per litre.
Maybe being an import-dependent commodity for daily use, its price is increasing. It may also be that scarcity of the US dollar in the banks and the resulting restrictions on import have something to do with the dearness of the edible oil in the market. But no, these are not the reasons for the fresh hike in the price of this key ingredient for cooking. In truth, crude soybean oil's price has rather been falling in the international market during the last four months. Then, why is its price rising in the local market? Well, the VAT exemption on the crude soybean import that the traders had been enjoying so far has come to an end since April 30 last. Now, the refiners and wholesalers have to pay Tk.20 per kilogram (kg) of soybean as VAT. This is Tk.15 more per kg than it was till April 30 at Tk.5. So, to make up for the loss, the burden of the VAT has now fallen on the shoulders of the consumers. It could be learnt that the traders, especially the producers of the vegetable oil, Vanaspati, and refiners of crude soybean oil, have in consultation with the commerce ministry and the tariff commission decided to increase the edible oil's price. So, it cannot be said that the traders have unilaterally increased soybean oil's price.
But for sugar the problem lies in the international market where its price is surging. So, there is no question that the common people have to pay a higher price for sugar. But the price hike is not limited only to oil and sugar. Potato, onion, garlic, ginger, you name it, are dearer in the market. And, of course, there are reasons aplenty in support of this fresh spate of price hike. Price of potato, for example, has about doubled in a year. Last year, this vegetable cost between Tk 16 and Tk 20 per kg. Lately (on Saturday), it was selling between Tk 32 and Tk 37 a kg. But hardly a month ago, potato was selling at a price that was around 33 per cent lower. How to explain this?
This year's potato production has been 19.51 tonnes per hectare. True, it is the lowest yield in potato production in the last eight years, according to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE). Even so, the expected amount of production at around 8.9 million tonnes, though less than the government-set target at slightly over 10.55 million tonnes, can well meet the nation's annual demand for potato, which is between 7 to 8 million tonnes. So, the argument of production or supply shortage of potato for such a sharp rise in its price in a month hardly stands to reason. The upcoming Muslim festival of Eid-ul-Azha when this particular vegetable will be in high demand may have driven traders, even farmers, to stock up on it.
Needless to say, spices like onion, garlic and ginger are also getting costlier perhaps for similar reasons. However, traders, as usual, are blaming the soaring prices of these kitchen items on restriction on import, dollar crisis behind fewer letters of credit (L/Cs) being opened and so on and so forth. Not that there is no truth in these claims. But the truth of the matter is that the consumers are always at the receiving end, rain or shine.

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