What do the consumers say?
First of all, prices of all things have gone up in the last two years. But my income has remained the same. Back then the prices were reasonable. For example, 5 litres of Soyabean oil cost Tk600 something, nowadays this is close to Tk1,000. This is just an example. Prices of all things are excessively high. In some cases, the current day price is twice as high as before. We are in a difficult situation. It has become tough to meet all ends. If it continues to get higher, then we will be in serious trouble.
Md Sultan, 33
Assistant Manager, Deep Clinic
Recently, I have started a grocery shop myself even though I work in a textile company. It is very difficult to run my family from only one source of income. We have reduced our cost in non-essential and luxury products. Fortunately, we did not compromise on necessary products or food items.
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Jahidur Rahman, 58
Product Manager, JK Textiles
I have to cut costs in many respects. Before the coronavirus, I was in a large apartment. But since then I have shifted to a smaller apartment. So, money is saved here. But the overall expenditure increased almost 30-40% in my case. When the price of onion went up, we almost stopped buying. And now as the oil price is high, we try to use as little oil as possible. Overall, we have to be very careful when grocery shopping. A few years ago, I did not have to think much about it.
Dipok Kumar Biswas, 38
Support Specialist, Ergo Phar Ltd.
Living in Dhaka city is already expensive. And the inflation is making it much worse. But we have to adapt to it. My husband and I both work in the corporate sector. Over the years, while the salary increased, it was not inflation-adjusted. As a result, it directly impacted our savings. In terms of grocery shopping, not much changed. But if things continue to get worse then we will definitely have to cut corners.
Afrin Khondokar, 30
Media Relation Officer, City Group
