Buyers forced to pay more for rice

Unscrupulous mill-owners blamed

Prices of rice have skyrocketed in the last two weeks, forcing consumers to pay Tk. 8 to Tk. 15 more per kg for the staple food-grain. “There is certainly no scarcity in the rice market. There is abundant supply. If you have money, you can get it with no trouble. Within a short span of time, prices of rice have increased drastically,” said Anisur Rahman, proprietor of Bismillah Traders at Mohammadpur's Town Hall Supermarket.
"The price hike has also hit the retail market severely. The current price of coarse rice is Tk. 34–36 per kg, BR-28 Tk. 40–42 per kg, Swarna Tk. 38–40, Miniket Tk. 48 per kg. I purchased Miniket from the wholesale market at Tk. 46.5 per kg. The price of Nazirshail has shot up unexpectedly to Tk. 50 to Tk. 65 per kg. On the whole, prices have risen by Tk. 8 to Tk.15," he said.
“About 10–12 days back, I purchased ‘atop’ (a category of rice) at Tk. 36 per kg, but yesterday I bought it at Tk. 39 per kg from a company dealer. The retail price would obviously go up. Chinigura regular rice (polaw) is Tk. 105–106 per kg, the highest ever market price so far. Unscrupulous mill-owners have intentionally hiked the prices without any valid reason,” he added.      
“We sold a 20-kg bag of Miniket for Tk. 1,000 today,” said Erfan, a dealer of a local company. “The wholesale rate is Tk. 37 (Swarna), Tk. 46 (Miniket), Tk. 40 BR-28, Tk. 48 Nazirshail,” said Sohel, owner of Sohel Enterprise of Mohammadpur's agricultural kacha bazar (agro market). “There are several reasons behind the price hike. Firstly, rice import from India has stopped since Eid-ul-Azha. The government has imposed a higher tax on rice import. If the tax is lowered, rice will be imported and supply will increase. If this happens, mill-owners will be compelled to lower the prices and the market will be stable and normal. Even though there was no natural calamity this year, mill-owners kept on stocking rice and hiked the prices,” he added. According to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), the latest price of coarse rice is Tk. 36–38 and the fine variety Tk. 46–56.

Buyers forced to pay more for rice

Unscrupulous mill-owners blamed

Prices of rice have skyrocketed in the last two weeks, forcing consumers to pay Tk. 8 to Tk. 15 more per kg for the staple food-grain. There is certainly no scarcity in the rice market. There is abundant supply. If you have money, you can get it with no trouble. Within a short span of time, prices of rice have increased drastically, said Anisur Rahman, proprietor of Bismillah Traders at Mohammadpurs Town Hall Supermarket. The price hike has also hit the retail market severely. The current price of coarse rice is Tk. 3436 per kg, BR-28 Tk. 4042 per kg, Swarna Tk. 3840, Miniket Tk. 48 per kg. I purchased Miniket from the wholesale market at Tk. 46.5 per kg. The price of Nazirshail has shot up unexpectedly to Tk. 50 to Tk. 65 per kg. On the whole, prices have risen by Tk. 8 to Tk.15, he said. About 1012 days back, I purchased atop (a category of rice) at Tk. 36 per kg, but yesterday I bought it at Tk. 39 per kg from a company dealer. The retail price would obviously go up. Chinigura regular rice (polaw) is Tk. 105106 per kg, the highest ever market price so far. Unscrupulous mill-owners have intentionally hiked the prices without any valid reason, he added. We sold a 20-kg bag of Miniket for Tk. 1,000 today, said Erfan, a dealer of a local company. The wholesale rate is Tk. 37 (Swarna), Tk. 46 (Miniket), Tk. 40 BR-28, Tk. 48 Nazirshail, said Sohel, owner of Sohel Enterprise of Mohammadpurs agricultural kacha bazar (agro market). There are several reasons behind the price hike. Firstly, rice import from India has stopped since Eid-ul-Azha. The government has imposed a higher tax on rice import. If the tax is lowered, rice will be imported and supply will increase. If this happens, mill-owners will be compelled to lower the prices and the market will be stable and normal. Even though there was no natural calamity this year, mill-owners kept on stocking rice and hiked the prices, he added. According to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), the latest price of coarse rice is Tk. 3638 and the fine variety Tk. 4656.