Shafiqul Islam, Dhaka

The middle-class people are accustomed to eating fine rice, mostly miniket and nazirshail varieties, but these two rice varieties are being sold at Tk 80-90 a kg in the capital’s Karwan Bazar.

Prices of fine rice rose by Tk 5-8 a kg over the past month. According to the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), the price of fine rice was at a lowest of Tk 45 and a maximum of Tk 70 a kg on 1 January 2022, which is at a lowest of Tk 70 a kg and a maximum of Tk 84 a kg now.

The price of miniket rice of popular brands Rashid, Diamond, Sagor and Mojammel were over Tk 80 a kg while packet rice was sold for about Tk 90. As a result, middle-income bracket people mostly choose rice for Tk 80 a kg.

The price of coarse rice also increased to Tk 54-58 a kg recently from Tk 30-35 a kg on 1 January 2020, according to the TCB. Coarse rice was sold for over Tk 55 a kg in Shewrapara, Mohammadpur Krishi Market, and Town Hall Market in the capital. Good-quality coarse rice was sold for Tk 58-60 a kg while medium-quality coarse rice for Tk 60-66 a kg.

The government, however, is trying to keep coarse rice prices stable by selling the rice at subsidised prices through the open market sale (OMS) scheme under the Directorate General of Food.

Poor people also receive rice assistance under the Food Friendly Programme (FFP) in addition to the ration scheme. However, not much effort is visible to lower the price of rice consumed by people with lower and middle-income brackets. They do not receive TCB’s family card either and depend on markets entirely to buy essentials.

Md Shamsul Islam, from the Rupnagar area of Mirpur in the capital city, is a private service holder.

He told Prothom Alo that he purchases an average of 35 kg Rashid brand miniket rice a month at the cost of about 2,500 but he spent an additional Tk 280 this month because of the price hike.

“We are already struggling to purchase other essentials due to price hikes and now rice prices have also increased,” he added.

This correspondent spoke to several other families and found that each family buys an average of 25 kg of rice per month and now they spend an additional Tk 125 for rice.

Wishing anonymity, a private service holder said an additional Tk 125 does not seem to be a big amount, but a little rise in prices of other goods then creates a big pressure. Prices of main foods remain low in other countries while people struggle to afford those in Bangladesh, the person lamented.

Several big rice mills control the markets for middle-income people as they supply the rice brands they consume. Mills hold a rise in paddy prices and other costs are responsible for higher rice prices.

Zihaduzzaman is the owner of Golden Auto Rice Mill in Khajanagar in Kushtia. He told Prothom Alo, “Firstly, the past government exerted a huge pressure to keep the rice price under control. But that move affects the markets now. Secondly, several large corporate firms have purchased most of the paddy this year. As a result, the millers are not getting paddies, besides prices are also high.”

Prices of paddy are Tk 10 higher than last year, thus, rice prices reached this high, he remarked.

Analysis showed rice prices increased disproportionately more than the rise in paddy prices.

According to the Department of Agricultural Marketing, wholesale prices of medium boro paddy increased to a little over Tk 30 in 2023 from about Tk 27 a kg in 2020. But paddy prices rose by a little over 12 per cent during this period. On the other hand, the retail price of fine rice increased by 42 per cent.

Market analysts said big companies entered the country’s rice market. Since they do not fall short of money they can control the market by stocking large amounts of paddy. These companies can borrow from banks easily. So, if rice were imported these firms would face competition and market control would be possible.

According to the analysts, the ousted Awami League government, however, was more interested in conducting mobile courts than enacting any effective market strategy to control them.

Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) conducted a survey at the request of the Bangladesh Competition Commission in 2019.

According to the survey, there were 50 big rice mills and they were the most important players in the markets, keeping roles at various levels from stocking paddy to processing rice.

Rice import has become difficult due to a lack of timely steps.

According to the World Bank, prices of rice fell by USD 100 to about USD 500 per tonnes in Thailand and Vietnam this year, but traders in Bangladesh did not show interest in importing rice at the price as the price of the US dollar is currently Tk 123 a dollar in the country and import price will be about Tk 62 per kg of rice. Added to this are freight and other costs, tariffs and taxes, and wholesale and retail profits.

Import of rice remained restricted with permission granted occasionally once demands arose. Taxes and tariffs were also high. The government reduced taxes and tariffs to 3 per cent from 62.5 per cent in October but the import of rice did not rise that much.

Wishing anonymity, an official of a government agency working on market management told Prothom Alo that when owners of the big rice mills see no opportunity to import rice they increase prices at their will.

Big businesses have been given the opportunity to increase prices by maintaining a ban on rice imports and imposing high duties. Now it is necessary to analyse their expenditures, selling prices and stock amounts, but does the food ministry pay any attention to this matter? the official added.

Published Date: January 23, 2025