The change of hands from farmer to consumer caused the price of narrow rice alone to increase by 307 percent. The same is true for all types of locally produced commodities, especially coarse rice, onion, ginger-garlic, rye fish, pulses, potatoes, green chilies, turmeric, and dry chilies.
This information emerged in a recent study by the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), which sought to understand the reasons for the increase in the prices of daily commodities. The study's results were published on Thursday (17 October 2024).
From 20th to 29th August in 49 districts of 8 divisions where data was collected from 600 producers and traders. The study collected data on 21 food products. Of these, 12 are locally produced, 5 are imported and the remaining 4 are locally produced and imported.
According to the research data, the maximum cost of producing one kg of coarse rice at the farmer level is Tk 26. The farmer sold that rice for 32 rupees. Consumers have to buy that coarse rice for 60 taka. That is the price of coarse rice increases by 215 percent or Tk 28 just by changing hands.
Similarly, the price difference per kg of narrow rice is about Tk 40, onion Tk 40, rice fish Tk 120, dal Tk 30, potato Tk 29, green pepper Tk 72, and turmeric Tk 100.
Ashraf Ahmed, President of Dhaka Chamber, said that even if the price increases at the consumer level, the producers do not get a fair price. Sometimes indirect costs are involved in raising prices. By reducing costs in storage, transportation, and processing of products, the prices of dairy products can be relatively low.
Dhaka Chamber's Executive Secretary (Research) AKM Asaduzzaman Patwari presented the keynote at the event. He said that the main reason for the current food inflation is the lack of coordination between demand, production, and import of essential products. Also contributing are inefficient market systems and information asymmetry, reduced local production and high transportation costs, and high prices of fertilizers-seed-oils along with pesticides. He gave permission to carry out effective data-based research to control inflation.
Executive Director of Bangladesh Bank Dr. Saira Yunus said it is not possible to reduce the price of goods only with monetary policy. Although the central bank has changed the policy rate about 9 times, its impact on the market is not significant. For this reason, the government should strengthen monitoring activities at the marginal level.
Source: Online/GFMM
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