Essentials in Ramadan: Dollar crisis, hoarding jack up prices

With Ramadan less than two months away, the prices of chickpeas, dried peas, dates, and soybean oil have increased in Dhaka and Chattogram.

The sale of these goods peaks in Ramadan, and since these are imported from overseas, the dollar shortage has resulted in a supply crunch, according to importers.

Some traders stockpiling the goods are also responsible for the supply shortage, they added.

According to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh, which collects data from 12 kitchen markets in the capital, the prices of 1kg sachets of refined flour rose by 3.57 percent, and unpacked refined flour by 8 percent since mid-December.

The price of moong dal has increased by 2 to 13 percent, depending on the variety, chickpeas and dried peas by 3 percent, and dates by 10 percent.

Last week, the Bangladesh Vegetable Oil Refiners and Vanaspati Manufacturers Association raised the price of soybean oil by Tk 4 a litre without prior notice.

Traders in Chattogram's Khatunganj wholesale market say each kg of chickpeas now sells for Tk 80 to Tk 85, a rise of around Tk 10 in a month. Dried peas now cost Tk 65-70 a kg, a rise of Tk 3-Tk 4.

Abdur Razzak, an importer based in Khatunganj, said compared to last year, the price of dates have increased by 60-90 percent, depending on the variety. This has happened partly because the import duty has almost doubled, he said.

While people in the country are having to pay more for certain everyday essentials, prices in the international market have been stable, said several importers and traders.

They blamed the dollar shortage for the situation.

Bangladesh has been witnessing a gradually worsening shortage of the American greenback since the Russia-Ukraine war began in February 2022.

Besides, the taka has lost 28 percent of its value against the dollar since February 2023, making imports significantly costlier.

According to the National Board of Revenue, between October 16 last year and January 15 this year, the import of wheat, dates, soybean oil and lentils have decreased.

About 10.98 lakh tonnes of wheat and 1.27 lakh tonnes of soybean oil were imported over the last three months.

In the same period a year ago, the import was 11.26 lakh tonnes of wheat, 2.35 lakh tonnes of soyabean oil.

Taslim Shahriar, senior assistant general manager at Meghna Group of Industries, said, "We are not being able to import as much as we need because overseas transactions have become difficult amid the dollar shortage. This has had an impact on the market."

On January 17, Bangladesh Bank told the commercial banks that Letters of Credit (LC), a requirement for importing goods, should take priority when they are opened for bringing in everyday essentials.

The central bank recently asked the commercial banks to make sure eight essential items can be imported until March.

About this, Taslim said such instructions were issued in the past, but not implemented.

Besides, even if an LC is opened right now, the goods will not arrive before Ramadan, he added.

State Minister for Commerce Ahsanul Islam Titu told reporters on Thursday that the authorities will launch a stringent crackdown on those who create an artificial crisis of goods through hoarding.

Biswajit Saha, director (corporate affairs) at the City Group, said the prices of certain essentials will not come down unless the value of taka rises against the dollar.

Besides, if major importers are able to bring in essential items as they can, the prices fall.

Ghulam Rahman, president of Consumers Association of Bangladesh, said, "The government must take effective steps to rein in inflation."

Representatives of the ministries of finance, commerce, food, and agriculture, and Bangladesh Bank will hold a meeting today to find a way to control the prices.