Prices of Iftar items becoming dear
A grocery shop in the port city.Photo: STAR
The prices of essentials have begun to shoot up in the port city ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, worrying the low and middle class people. “Every year it happens just a week or two before the Ramadan and there is no exception this year as well,” said Mohammad Munir, a primary schoolteacher who was shopping for Iftar items at Reazuddin Bazar on Saturday. Prices of Iftar items like chickpea (chhola), white pea (motor), khesari (one kind of pulse), onion, dun pea and dates have already gone up in kitchen markets. But the prices of several items have reduced remarkably in the wholesale market, said the wholesale traders. They said though these commodities, widely used during this holy month in particular, are abundant in the market their prices have increased. Shoppers at kitchen markets during last three days buying items for Iftar and Sehri found prices unusually high. Chickpea, imported from Australi, vastly consumed during the Ramadan was sold at Tk 66 to Tk 68 per kg at Reazuddin Bazar on Sunday, which was Tk 63 a week ago. The price was Tk 59 per kg a month ago, showed a statistics at the district marketing office. However, chickpea was sold at a reduced price of Tk 56.27 per kg in the wholesale market at Khatunganj the same day while it was Tk 58.15 last week. The wholesale rate of different quality of chickpea has already decreased by around Tk 2 per kilogram in last three days, said Ahmad Rashid Amu, proprietor of M/s Abdus Salam Sowdagar and also the General Secretary of Chittagong Dal (pulse) Mill Traders Association, while talking to this correspondent. Like chickpea another necessary item for Iftar, khesari -- used to prepare 'piazoo' -- was sold at Tk 29.74 per kg at wholesale market while the price was Tk 30.81 last week, sources said. But the retailers at different city markets were selling khesari at Tk 34. "The sale is not up to the mark compared to previous years as buyers from outside the city are yet to come, forcing the wholesalers to sell their goods in reduced rates, said Md Jamal Hossain, General Secretary of Chaktai Industries and Traders' Association. The retailers, however, could not show any reason for the price hike. Onion was being sold in retail markets at Tk 33 to Tk 34 per kg at Karnaphuli Market, Reazuddin Bazar and Bakshirhat while it was only Tk 28 to Tk 30 five to six days ago. The prices of quality dates, imported from Saudi Arabia, marked a sharp rise to reach Tk 80 to Tk 100 while it was Tk 60 ten days ago. Rasel Anwar, a shopper at Reazuddin Bazar, said the prices of dates might increase more within a few days. Besides, prices of different items varied at different markets in the port city. Essential items like ginger were being sold at Tk 44 to Tk 45 per kg at Reazuddin Bazar while it was Tk 50 to Tk 52 at Karnaphuli Market. Several traders and common people at city markets said a section of traders are now busy in making profit targeting the holy month. "They wait for the opportunity to cash in on the holy month of self-restraint," said Mahbuba Abida, a housewife. Farida Begum, also a housewife, said she might have to curtail her Iftar menu this year due to price hike of essentials that she experienced throughout the year. She urged the district administration as well as Chittagong City Corporation to regulate the market situation in order to keep the prices of commodities especially used in Ramadan at reasonable level.
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