People squeezed by soaring commodity prices

Nurse Johora Begum, 55, from Savar on the outskirts of the capital, could manage the monthly expenses of her four-member family with a salary of Tk32,000. But, for the last few months, she had to spend Tk4,000 more per month on daily necessities following price hikes of almost all commodities.

Due to the overburdened cost of other expenditures, such as utility bills and the tuition fees of her children, she now has her back on the wall. Having no other alternatives, she had to buy essentials from Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) trucks.

"The struggle of running the family was always there but recently it has been almost impossible for me to make ends meet since the daily commodities prices have hiked. At present, I buy TCB products, which I have never done," said Johora Begum, the sole bread earner of the family.

Limited-income people are now feeling the pain of sticker shock as never before with soaring commodity prices going beyond their reach.

From cooking oil to rice to lentils to sugar, all daily essentials have marked a sharp rise between 30% and 80%, but earnings have suffered pandemic-led erosion, rather than keeping up with the increases.

Grappling with such a massive surge, they are having to swarm TCB trucks to get commodities at subsidised prices. But what TCB supplies is too inadequate to meet rising demand.

The queue in front of the TCB trucks has been getting longer day by day. There are even incidents of rushing, shoving and altercation among people.

According to the TCB price list, coarse rice price hiked by 32%, finer rice by 28%, Coarse-grained lentils by 63%, sugar by 32%, bottled soybean oil by 55% and non-bottled by 83%.

Private service holder Khaled Hossain from Bangla Motor area earns Tk20,00 per month, half of which he has to spend on his parents' treatment.

"I now have to send more money to my parents although my living expenses have swelled too. At present I buy TCB products. I do not know how I can help my parents or how I will survive!" he said.

According to a survey conducted among low-income people by Brac in 2021, the extreme poverty rate in the country has increased by 60% compared to the pre-pandemic period.

According to the Brac survey conducted from 31 March to 5 April 2021, 14% of the low-income people such as day labourers, construction workers and rickshaw pullers did not have any food stock at their homes.

According to a survey by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), conducted from March to October 2020, people's income decreased by 20% amid the pandemic.

Saima Haque Bidisha, a professor of economics at Dhaka University, told The Business Standard, "People are suffering even more than what the BBS data show. Currently, the prices of commodities in the country are abnormally high, which is unbearable for low-income people. They are struggling hard to run their families."

To overcome this situation, TCB needs to be strengthened, the number of its vehicles needs to be increased across the country, and strict monitoring should be implemented to ensure that the products do not fall into the hands of black marketeers, said the economics professor.

At the retail markets in Mirpur, Agargaon, Farmgate, Karwan Bazar and several other places in the capital, bottled soybean oil was sold at Tk168 per litre, chickpea at Tk70-75 per kg and sugar at Tk80-85 per kg on Friday.

People who eat at the shops on footpaths have been suffering immensely due to the hike in daily commodities prices.

Street vendor Hadiuzzaman, who came to have lunch at a street food shop in the Banglamotor area yesterday, told TBS, "The prices of all the food items have gone up. The price of a plate of 'shol fish' has gone up from Tk60 to Tk80. The price of a piece of a paratha has jumped from Tk7 to Tk10."

"All my money is spent on my meals. I do not know what I would send to my family," he added.

VAT withdrawal results in no impact on the market

Prices of edible oil, sugar and gram remain unchanged in the kitchen markets despite the withdrawal of value-added tax (VAT) on these items. Besides, prices of other items such as rice, onion, potato and spice prices have increased.

According to local traders, essential items were being sold at previous prices on Friday as new products have not yet hit the market, which triggered confusion among sellers and buyers.

Saber Hossain, a buyer at a grocery store in the city's Agargaon Taltola market, was seen arguing with the shopkeeper about commodity prices. His question is why would the prices of cooking oil, sugar and gram remain high after VAT exemption?

"We often observe that prices go up instantly after an announcement of the hike but the opposite occurs rarely as products have failed to reach market two days after VAT withdrawal decision," he added.

Tanvir Hossain, the owner of Raja Badsha Store, told BTS: "Supply of cooking oil has been limited in the market in the past two weeks. We could not provide each consumer with more than a litre of edible oil. It's a hurdle for us as demand is much higher than supply. Suppliers control the price, not us."

The Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) began its ninth phase of sales of essential items on 6 March intending to distribute essential items among one crore, low-income people, ahead of Eid.

According to TCB, each household will get two commodity packs at subsidy prices.

With the help of 150 trucks, the sales will continue till 24 March.

The next phase of sale will be launched on 27 March and will continue till 25 April.

Apart from Dhaka, TCB sales in other metropolitan cities, districts, upazilas and union levels will begin from 15 March.