Fuel price hike inflates further essentials cost in Bangladesh

BANGLADESH: Prices of essentials rose by up to 14 per cent in a week in Bangladesh after the country witnessed a record hike fuel price recently, immediately affecting the transport sector, sparking street protests.

According to a State-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) tally, the prices of most essentials continued to go up every day since the Government enhanced the fuel prices.

“During the past one week prices of 25 out of 26 essential items spiraled” said a spokesman of TCB, which monitors the market, on Saturday.

TCB said the price of Bangladesh’s staple rice rose by 22 per cent, farm-grown chicken by 45 per cent, onion by 43 per cent, egg by 20 per cent and fish by 10 per cent in the past one month.

“The prices of essentials rose by up to 14 per cent in a week after the government hiked fuel prices,” the Daily Star estimated based on the TCB price chart. Bangladesh’s inflation rate remained above 6 per cent for the past nine months and hit 7.48 per cent in July, exposing middle-class and poorer families to miseries to meet their day-to-day expenses. – PTI