Green chilli hottest ever at Tk800-1,000 a kg
- Wholesale price of green chillies reaches Tk600-700 a kg
- The price has been on rise since the day before Eid
- The unusual price rise is due to short supply, say traders
- Customers blame syndicate, lack of monitoring
- Commerce minister warns of action against syndicates
The prices of green chillies have soared to a record-high of Tk800-1,000 per kg in the kitchen markets of Brahmanbaria, Bagerhat and Sylhet due to a sharp decline in supply of the essential commodity during the Eid-ul-Azha holidays.
Raising concern about the abnormal price rise and scarcity of green chillies in the market, many customers complained about a syndicate of traders and lack of market monitoring.
On Saturday, per kg green chilli sold for Tk800 a kg in retail, and Tk900-1,000 in wholesale at Akhaura, and for Tk700 at Nasirnagar in Brahmanbaria.
Muslim Mia, a vegetable seller at Ananda Bazar in Brahmanbaria town, told The Business Standard that commodities are not coming into the market as per demand, because of the Eid holidays, resulting in a shortage of chillies.
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Green chilli price has increased at the retail level due to its high price in wholesale, he added, expressing optimism that the price will come down within the next three-four days.
In Bagerhat, the green chilli price has doubled to Tk800 from Tk400 a kg in just three days.
Saimon Howlader, a customer at Boro Bazar Kitchen Market in the town, told TBS, "Green chillies were selling for Tk300 a kg just two days before Eid. The price has increased to Tk800 today [Saturday]. It was sold for Tk1,000 a kg in the morning".
Voicing concern regarding the abnormal price of chillies, he stressed the need for government monitoring to contain the price of the commodity.
Retail vegetable seller Shahin said, "Due to the high price, customers do not buy more than 100gm each… Now it takes two days to sell 2-3 kg of green chillies. As a result, a significant amount of chillies are damaging," he added.
In Sylhet, the green chilli price has reached Tk1,000 a kg in the retail market since the day before Eid, which was selling for Tk120-150 a kg even 10 days ago. On Saturday, it was selling for Tk600-700 a kg at wholesale.
Masum Ahmed, a resident of the city's Ambarkhana area, told TBS that he had opted for dry chillies due to the extremely high price of the green ones.
"In my life, I have never seen such a high price of green chillies," he said.
Koyes Ahmed, a resident of South Surma area, said, "The price is so high that it is not possible to buy green chillies for kg. Per kg of mutton is available for the price of one kg of green chillies".
Raju Ahmed, general secretary of Kacha Bazar Trade Centre traders' association in Subhanighat, told TBS, "Due to low supply during Eid, the sellers have increased the prices of green chillies in the retail market. Once the supply returns to normal, the prices will soon come down".
Amirul Islam Masud, assistant director of the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection's Sylhet office, said, "We will keep an eye on whether anyone is overcharging".
However, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi on Saturday warned that efforts were underway to bust the syndicates involved in raising commodity prices.
"We are trying so that no syndicate can work. Syndicates of traders have been active for years. As a result, it is taking time but we are trying," he was quoted by UNB as saying.
