Gram price shoots up by Tk 10 a kg before Ramadan

Despite a government warning of stringent action against price-hike of essential food items like sugar, lentils and gram, wholesale prices of gram have soared to Tk 90 a kilogramme.

Prices of sugar, lentils and other essential items also registered a price hike in the current week.

With Ramadan approaching, reports of hike in prices of lentils, gram, onion, sugar and a number of other essential food items were recently published in the media, prompting the parliamentary standing committee on commerce ministry to discuss it during a meeting with a view to regulating the market.

Last Saturday after the meeting, committee President Tajul Islam Chowdhury reassured that adequate stocks of lentils, sugar, gram and other commodities are abundant and anyone trying to hike prices would invite punitive measures.

But the warning seemed to have no effect in the Kawran Bazar wholesale market in Dhaka on Friday, where, barring garlic, every other commodity was being sold at a hiked price.

Sugar sold at Tk 2-3 higher at Tk 54 a kg, lentils at Tk 115 and Tk 135, higher by Tk 5 per kg.

Gram, which is usually at the apex of Ramadan demand, sold Tk 10 higher at Tk 90 a kg. Only a week ago it had sold at Tk 80 a kg.

A Kawran Bazar vendor told bdnews24.com that Rahmatganj businessmen in Old Dhaka had hiked prices and that they should answer journalists’ queries.

“If no one goes to the root of it, we are in trouble”, he said.

Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) Vice-President Nazer Hossain told bdnews24.com, “During Ramadan and such other seasons, sellers come together and blame each other and cheat people.”

Ruing the fact that the government declaration to take action against erring businessmen was just an eyewash, he said, “The prices keep soaring, the threats to take action keep coming. There is no record of any action being ever taken against a powerful businessman”, he said.

Aminul Hoque, a Kawran Bazar sugar dealer told bdnews24.com that there has been a crisis of sugar at the mill level.

“You can’t procure sugar even after waiting for days,” he said.

However, Biswajit Choudhury, a staffer at City Group, a leading sugar supplier, disputed such claims saying there is absolutely no scarcity of sugar at the mill.

Kawran Bazar garlic trader Jamal said that there has been a considerable drop in the price of imported garlic over the weeks.

While imported garlic prices have fallen from Tk 250 to Tk 170 per kilo, the indigenous variety of the commodity has seen a Tk 30-40 drop and is selling at Tk 100-110 a kilo, he said.