Sukanta Halder

The cost of living has gone up but the incomes of most consumers have not. It is not just the prices of edible oil and rice that are hurting, it’s almost everything they need in the kitchen every day.

Exporters in Bangladesh raked in more than $1 billion in the shipment of leather, leather goods and footwear in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year despite a slowdown in May owing to supply chain disruptions and the fallout of the Russia-Ukraine war, official figures showed.

Even though prices of loose palm and soybean oil have dropped in wholesale markets, consumers are not being able to reap the benefits as retailers are still selling those at the government-fixed prices.

Powdered milk prices have increased by Tk 50 to Tk 80 per kilogramme (kg) as rising transportation charges and the growing value of US dollars pushed up costs in the international market.

On April 5, the revenue authorities held a draw of the lottery of sales receipts issued by the stores using electronic fiscal devices (EFDs).

The National Board of Revenue should accelerate the use of electronic fiscal devices (EFDs) and ramp up monitoring to eliminate non-compliance with a view to raising more value-added taxes using technologies, said former top taxmen and economists.

Consumers in Bangladesh are already facing a difficult time meeting their demand due to the increase in the prices of essential commodities. And now they are forced to spend more money to buy eggs, the low-cost sources of protein.

Air conditioner (AC) sales are growing steadily in Bangladesh thanks to increased demand from the country’s upper middle-class, modern offices and factories as consumers seek to escape hotter summers.

Consumers are already bearing the brunt of the high prices of edible oil, wheat and rice for the Russia-Ukraine war and unfavourable weather conditions on the domestic front.

Palm oil prices in domestic wholesale and retail markets have started cooling off after Indonesia announced that it would resume exports of the product.

More than 11 years ago, the government issued an order for the trade of essential commodities, aimed at controlling their prices and curbing price manipulation by unscrupulous businesses through hoarding and other unfair means.

Retail prices of wheat flour recently shot up to a 15-year high amid concerns of a supply shortage in local markets after India banned exports of the staple food in order to ensure its availability at home in the face of rising global costs due to Russia’s war on Ukraine.

When his children ask Russel Shaikh why there is no meat and even fish in their meals, he has no answer. This is because he simply has no choice as soaring prices of essential commodities and the rising cost of living have hit hard the pockets of the low-income people like him.

Although processed milk prices are rising at the retail level, farmers are yet to see any benefit as there is no sign of an increase on their end.

Entrepreneurs in Bangladesh have pumped billions of dollars into the shipbuilding sector in recent years to meet their own demand for vessels as well as regain the international market.

Bangladesh emerged as a shipbuilding nation in 2008 when it exported its first ocean-going vessel to a Danish company and suddenly there were talks about the sector’s immense potential and the country capturing a major share of the global shipbuilding market.

Salt production reached a 61-year high this fiscal year thanks to the conducive environment, allowing farmers to eye more profit amid good market prices.

After the new prices came into effect, edible oil companies started supplying bottled, loose soybean and palm oil through distributors from Saturday.

Hotels and resorts in tourist destinations across Bangladesh are enjoying brisk business thanks to the long holiday afforded by most industries in the current festival season centring Eid-ul-Fitr as they look to partially recover pandemic-induced losses.

Edible oil prices see the biggest increase in Bangladesh’s history as the government moves to put an end to the unprecedented crunch of the essential cooking item.