The essential commodity market of Bangladesh has become quite volatile. Potato recently joined the price hike trend, hitting Tk 45-70 a kg depending on varieties on Sunday, marking Tk 5.0-8.0 a kg hike in a week and a 32-42 percent hike in a month.
Besides, the price volatility of green chili, tomato, ginger, and garlic continued unabated. Green chilis were selling at Tk 300-450 a kg amid low import as well as a massive decline in local production.
Only 671 tons of chili could be imported against the permission of the Ministry of Agriculture to bring 52,480 tons, according to its Plant Quarantine Wing. Meanwhile, the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP) declared that it would take legal actions against a section of super-shops involved in selling green chili at exorbitant prices.
When officials were exchanging views over prices of chili, ginger, and sugar, potato prices shot up on Sunday. Md Farid, salesman of Bismillah Store at West Dhanmondi, has said that wholesale potato prices of cardinal and granola varieties shot up to Tk 38-40 a kg from Tk 32-33 a kg. "We get three to four kgs of rotten potatoes per fifty-kg delivery, whose price is adjusted to its final retail price," he added.
[ Tk 100 = €0.85 ]
Source: today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd
