Bangladeshi consumers pay more for commodities than in other countries
A dozen eggs are being sold at Tk110.57 on average in Dhaka, which cost Tk85.72 in Cyberjaya city of Malaysia and Tk103 in Dayton city of western Ohio in the United States. Eggs in Dhaka are 7.34% costlier than in Dayton and 29% costlier than in Cyberjaya.
Similarly, per kilogram of onion costs Tk55.22 in Dhaka, which is Tk40.9 in Belgrade of Serbia and Tk37.46 in Baku of Azerbaijan. The key cooking ingredient is 35% costlier in Dhaka than in Belgrade and 47.41% costlier than in Baku.
This is how consumers of Dhaka are bound to pay more for commodities than in other countries – whether they are imported or produced locally, as explained by Dr Fahmida Khatun, executive director at the CPD.
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Presenting a keynote at a press briefing organised by the CPD on Sunday, she said traders are hiking prices of most commodities unreasonably on the pretext of increasing prices in the global market.
She said, "Sometimes, the degree of increase in the prices of essentials surpasses the global rate. On this occasion, the prices of non-imported goods also went up."
Dr Fahmida said the monthly average earnings of employees in Dhaka was $149 in 2017, which was $3,955 in Dayton. Consumers in US towns have the opportunity to buy eggs at a lower price, despite 26.54 times higher income.
Commodities are being sold at unusually high prices in Bangladesh, but there is no reflection in the BBS inflation report.
She further said there is a strong relationship between prices of food and non-food items. Rising food inflation would accelerate non-food inflation as well.
The BBS claimed food inflation was stable at below 5.3% for the last four months. But price hikes of some items are very high, even up to 30%, Fahmida noted.
Her paper further revealed that the price of rice is increasing steadily with some fluctuations, but it is rising moderately in Thailand and Vietnam.
In January, rice was sold at Tk34 per kg in Vietnam and at Tk35-Tk37 per kg in Thailand. But the price was Tk51-Tk69 in Bangladesh.
She found the same picture in the case of flour.
The price of per litre edible oil was Tk134 both in global and local markets in May last year. Its price has now surged to Tk160 in the local market though it dropped to Tk126 in the global market.
Consumers in Dhaka are bound to pay Tk85 to avail themselves of a kg of sugar. But the essential item costs Tk32 in Europe, Tk67 in the United States. The global market average price of sugar is only Tk35.
Although the price of beef in the global market is Tk513 per kg, it costs Tk577 in Dhaka.
Consumers in Spain spend Tk62.9 to avail a litre of milk, which costs Tk80.2 in Dhaka. The liquid item is 28% costlier in Dhaka, despite the earnings of its residents being only 6.60% of Spain.
Fahmida Khatun said the income of the poor and fixed wage earners in Dhaka is much lower than that of the people in other countries. Their actual purchasing capacity is even lower as they are having to buy products at higher prices.
There are weaknesses in market management and tax structure. Moreover, there exist cartels and monopolies, she also said, adding although there is information about those who are involved in these misdeeds, no action is being taken.
