Rice gets dearer, vegetable prices ease

Prices of different varieties of rice increased by Tk 3.0-4.0 per kg while that of vegetables, lemon and cucumber declined over the last few days in the city markets, according to trading sources.
Traders said seasonal coarse rice Swarna was selling at Tk 58-60 per kg while medium varieties such as BRRI dhan-28 and Paijam were being sold at Tk 65-70 per kg at the retail levels on Friday.
Finer varieties of rice were selling between Tk 75 and Tk 95 per kg, marking a Tk 3.0-4.0 per kg rise over the last week.
On the other hand, prices of vegetables and other fresh produce, which marked a substantial upward trend just before the holy month of Ramadan, eased further for the last few days.
Rabiul Alam, a vegetable vendor at Adabar, said prices of vegetables declined further mainly due to lower demand.
He said before Ramadan, many consumers bought groceries for two to three weeks at a time, pushing their prices up. Now that the pressure has eased, the prices are showing a downward trend.
A visit to different city markets on Friday showed that potato and onion prices also dropped for the past few days.
Potatoes were selling at Tk 15-20 per kg, while onions were priced at Tk 45-60 per kg. Potato prices fell by Tk 5.0 per kg and onion prices by Tk 10 per kg in comparison with their previous prices.
Prices of farm products like lemon, brinjal and green chilli, especially that are largely consumed during the fasting month, also declined due to their lower demand.
Lemons, which were sold at Tk 100 to 120 per four just a week back, are now available at Tk 40-80.
Similarly, prices of cucumber and brinjal fell by Tk 20-30 per kg. Cucumber was selling at Tk 50-80 per kg and brinjal at Tk 60-80 per kg at the retail levels.
Traders predicted that prices of vegetables and other farm products may remain stable for the next few days.
At the beginning of Ramadan, green chilli prices surged to Tk 200 per kg, which is now selling at Tk 120-140 per kg in retail markets.
Vegetable seller Mostafa Kamal said demand for the same dropped significantly. Vegetable prices may remain stable or slightly fall further in a week.
Chickpea prices also declined and are now selling at Tk 90-110 per kg, down from Tk 100-125 just before Ramadan.
Meat and egg priceswere unchanged.
Broiler chicken was selling at Tk 180-200 per kg, while Sonali chicken was priced at Tk 320-340 per kg. Farm eggs were selling at Tk 105-115 per dozen.
Beef prices remained unchanged at its previous high of Tk 800-850 a kg.
Prices of fish, sugar, edible oil and pulses' also remained more or less unchanged on Friday.

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