Consumers – especially the lower income segment – are feeling the pinch of the recent fuel price hike as the price of essential commodities rose from 2 per cent to 28 per cent in the last seven days.

According to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), prices of almost all commodities have increased in the last ten days except for three essential commodities – pulses, salt, and turmeric.

TCB updates the market rate information daily. According to the corporation’s price list, on the day when the government announced fuel oil price hike on July 5, only three product prices were on the rise. Ten days later, the prices of at least 15 products have increased in the latest (Sunday) list.

The prices of rice, flour, Atta, edible oil, sugar, fish, chicken, eggs, milk, onion, garlic, chilli, ginger and cumin have increased in the last week.

In the last week of July, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said inflation will come down in two to three months. Later in the week, the minister further said the increase in fuel prices will increase inflation.

Commodity markets have become more volatile since the oil price hike. The list of weekly price hikes grew longer in TCB data.

Consumer Association of Bangladesh (CAB) President Golam Rahman said, “Consumer is under pressure due to the increase in the fuel price.  The government needed to provide more accountability in taking this decision. Now the country is pushed towards uncontrolled inflation. The government should look into this matter now. It was sufficient to raise government revenue through taxation without raising fuel prices.”

According to TCB, the price of coarse rice, the main commodity in the market, has increased by 8 per cent.

Now one kg of coarse rice costs 52-54 taka. The price of medium-sized rice has increased by Tk 2-5 per kg to Tk 53-58 and thin rice has reached Tk 64-80. The average growth rate of the price is 5 per cent.

Along with rice, the price of flour and Atta has also increased. The price of loose Atta rose by 20.69 per cent.

It is being sold at Tk 50-55 increasing Tk 8 to 10 per kg.  The price of packet Atta increased Tk 55-60 by 17.35 per cent and loose flour increased Tk 60-62 per kg by 8.93 per cent.

According to information provided by truck drivers and traders, the increase in fuel prices has increased transport costs by Tk 0.25 to 0.30 per kg of rice. But the consumers said that they are paying a lot of extra price.

According to the information of the organization, the prices of eggs have increased the most in the market. This growth rate is 28 per cent during the week. The price of eggs is now Tk 50-55 which was earlier Tk 40-42.

The price of broiler chicken has increased from Tk 25-30 to Tk 200 per kg.

Faruk Hossain, an egg trader at Tejgaon in the capital, said that he has to pay Tk 3,000 more than before to bring a truckload of eggs from Joypurhat.

Depending on the size of the truck, 25,000 to 30,000 eggs can be brought. According to this, the cost of egg transportation has increased by only Tk 0.1. However, the cost of production at the farm level has also increased slightly.

Refining companies have recently proposed to increase the price of edible oil. A decision is expected to be made in this regard at a meeting of the Commerce Ministry today (Wednesday).

TCB data shows that the price of loose soybeans has increased by Tk 6-9 per litre and is being sold at Tk 166-175. Bottled soybean oil has increased by Tk 5 per litre to Tk 185-190. The price of palm oil has increased up to Tk 20 per litre. A liter of palm oil is now Tk 135-145. Quality refined palm oil is selling at Tk 150-155. Besides, sugar has increased by Tk 8 per kg and is being sold at 88-90 taka.

The price of onion, which has been in relief for a long time, has also increased up to 20 per cent. Imported onion has increased by Tk 10 to 40-50 and local onion has increased by Tk 10 to 45-55. A kg of garlic has increased by Tk 10 and is being sold at Tk 110-130.

Price of imported dry chili has increased by Tk 80 to Tk 380-480 and local dry chili increased by Tk 20 to Tk 320-350 per kg. However, this product has more than doubled in the market and is being sold at Tk 600 to Tk 800 per kg.

Due to the increase in the price of fuel, consumers claim that they have to pay several times more.

An additional fare ranging from Tk 1 to Tk 5,000 has to be paid per truck loaded with goods to come from different districts of the country to different markets in Dhaka.

On August 6, the government increased the prices of diesel, kerosene, petrol, and octane by 47 percent.

Due to economic instability and rising prices of daily commodities, people are desperately trying to save money while low-income people are now forced to cut back on food items.