Daily essentials have turned into luxury items now: CPD
The price of a kg of sugar in the European Union is 39 when converted in Bangladeshi currency and in the US it is Tk 96
In this country, the price of rice has increased more for the poor than the rich people. The price of coarse rice has increased by 30 per cent in the last five and a half years. The same coarse rice that used to sell at Tk 40 per Kg in January 2019, sold at Tk 52 per Kg this May.
Over the same period, the prices of comparatively expensive miniket and paijam varieties of rice have increased by 17 and 18 per cent respectively. These two types of rice are now selling at Tk 68 and Tk 55 per kg.
Non-government research organisation Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) held a press conference about the current situation of Bangladesh’s economy today, Sunday. This picture of the rice prices was presented there.
Research director at CPD Khondaker Golam Moazzem presented the main article at the press conference held at the organisation’s headquarters in Dhaka.
Khondaker Golam Moazzem said the price of rice is higher in Bangladesh than that in Thailand and Vietnam. Not being able to restrain inflation within bearable limits is a big failure on the government’s part. Daily essentials have turned into luxury items now.
Details about how much the prices of some items have increased in May 2024 compared to January 2019 were presented in the press conference. For example, the price of lentils has increased by 95 per cent. Back in January 2019, the price of a Kg of lentil (large grain) was Tk 55. The same is being sold at Tk 108 now.
Price of packaged flour after an increase of 54 per cent has now become Tk 53 per Kg. Price of loose soybean oil has gone up by 84 per cent and rose to Tk 150 per litre. At the same time the price of palm oil has soared by 106 per cent. The price of a litre of palm oil is now Tk 130.
CPD also said that sugar is selling at a higher price in Bangladesh than in the US and the countries of the European Union. The price of this item has increased by a whopping 152 per cent in the last five and a half years. At present, sugar is selling at Tk 130 per Kg.
The price of a kg of sugar in the European Union is 39 when converted in Bangladeshi currency and in the US it is Tk 96. In addition to that, the price of beef has increased by 58 per cent and the price of broiler chicken by 59 per cent in these five and a half years. Meanwhile, onion price has hiked by a huge margin of 164 per cent.
Khondaker Golam Moazzem further stated that the efforts of reducing the price of goods by reducing the import duty tax are not proving to be fruitful. Some of the importers are taking away the benefits of duty tax reduction. The market cannot run on the whim of a few traders.
The main article presented at the press conference portrayed a comparative picture of annual per capita GDP and per capita expenditure on food of the people in 17 countries.
It showed that out of those 17 countries, the per capita GDP of the people in Bangladesh is the lowest at USD 7,805. This is calculated in dollars based on the purchasing power parities (PPP) from 2022.
However, Bangladesh spends the most on food among all those 17 countries and the amount of that expenditure is USD 928.
The other 16 countries on this list are Iran, India, Laos, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, Algeria, Vietnam, Tunisia, Bolivia, Morocco, Iraq, Indonesia, Colombia, Brazil, Jordan and South Africa.