Price of onion has hit a record high with each kg selling for Tk200 to Tk220 at kitchen markets across Dhaka city.
The price hike was noticed, when this correspondent visited some major retail and wholesale kitchen markets in the capital, including Shantinagar, Malibagh, Karwan Bazar and Shukrabad, on Thursday.
Dhaka Tribune contacted local traders, who blamed the price hike on wholesalers.
In the Shantinagar, per kg of local onion rose from Tk40 to Tk50 within a day’s difference and was being sold at Tk210 to Tk220 per kg.
On the other hand, imported onion was being sold at Tk170 to Tk190 per kg.
AbdurAlim, a retired government officer, who went to Shantinagar to buy 5kg onions was astonished to see the price.
“I had to buy only 1kg onion, he said.
Jihad hossain, an onion retailer at Shukrabad Kitchen Market, acknowledged the price hike and blamed the wholesaler for it
However, he could not pinpoint the actual reason behind it.
Onion price increased from mid-September
The price of onion was about Tk50 in mid-September, and jumped to Tk75 to 80 a kg by the last week of the month.
As India slapped a ban, on September 19 the price of local onion on the following day jumped to Tk110 to Tk120, while Indian onion price stood at Tk100 to Tk110.
The price came down to Tk70-90 per kg in the second week of October as traders started importing the item from Myanmar and Egypt, but it started rising again from the third week of October.
On September 30, Commerce Secretary MdJafar Uddin said, the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) to set onions at Tk45 per kg in 35 places.
