Prices of daily essentials ease slightly, but consumers still struggle

Dhaka's kitchen markets have seen a slight decline in the prices of some essentials over the past week, particularly green chillies, potatoes, eggs, and a few vegetables. Yet, shoppers say the relief is minimal, as overall expenses remain high due to persistently steep prices of meat, pulses, oil, and spices.

Homemaker Shahnaz Akhter, who was shopping at Karwan Bazar, shared her frustration, "Prices of a few items like vegetables or potatoes may have gone down, but there's no real relief when shopping. Meat, lentils, oil, and spices are still very expensive. Household costs are not decreasing at all."

Infographics: TBS

A market visit revealed green chillies selling for Tk100–120 per kg, down from Tk150–160 last week. Tomatoes were Tk100, bitter gourd Tk80, okra Tk80, long eggplants Tk70, round eggplants Tk100–120, snake gourd Tk60, bottle gourd Tk70–80, and papaya Tk25–30 per kg. Other prices included spiny gourd at Tk60, taro roots Tk40–50 apiece, cucumber Tk50–60, and carrots Tk90–100 per kg.

Potato prices also fell, currently at Tk20 per kg. Local onions were sold at Tk75, while hybrid onions ranged between Tk65–70 per kg.

Meat and poultry

Broiler chicken was selling at Tk180 per kg, with Pakistani Sonali cocks priced at Tk300–350. Beef stood at Tk750 and mutton at Tk1,100 per kg.

Fish market

Fish prices remained relatively stable: Rui at Tk300–400 (depending on size), large Katla Tk350–400, Tangra Tk400–560, Pabda Tk450, and farmed Shing Tk300–400 per kg. Silver carp was priced at Tk180–260, and Tilapia at Tk 180–200. Hilsa prices stayed unchanged—large fish Tk2,400–2,800, medium Tk1,400, and smaller ones Tk1,200 per kg.

Eggs, pulses, and rice

Egg prices fell by Tk5–7 per dozen compared to last week. Among pulses, local lentils sold for Tk155, Indian lentils Tk100, mung dal Tk150–160, khesari Tk110–112, chickpeas Tk110, and split chickpeas (boot dal) Tk125–130 per kg.

Rice prices showed little change: pulao rice Tk125–130, miniket Tk78–80, and Atash/Paijam rice Tk65 per kg. Sellers hinted rice prices may drop in the coming days.

Oil and spices

Soybean oil prices increased by Tk 3–4 per litre. In the spice market, raisins climbed to Tk800 per kg, while dried plums rose by Tk 100 in a week. Cumin was priced at Tk650, cardamom Tk4,800–5,200, cloves Tk1,600–1,700, cinnamon Tk600, black pepper Tk150, and dried chillies Tk300–350 per kg. Local ginger sold for Tk140, Chinese ginger Tk160, local garlic Tk110, and Chinese garlic Tk130 per kg.

Vendors explained that while steady supplies helped reduce prices for some items, higher transport costs and the impact of continuous rain mean prices are unlikely to fall further anytime soon.