The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) calculates inflation, which does not take into account the price of bread and bananas. However, those who have to live in a hall or a mess or a lonely life are in fact trapped in a circle of monkey-eggs or bananas. Instead of cooking rice, the availability of egg-banana-bread is easy and cheap.
The consumer rights organization Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) has kept the price of bananas as a cost of living. According to them, the average price of a sea banana in the country in 2009 was less than 5 rupees. In 2020, the average price of that banana exceeds 10 rupees. Increased by 110 percent.
The world has to buy rice, pulses, oil, sugar, onions, garlic and fish, meat, vegetables, as well as a banana, an egg, a liter of milk, a soap, an extra price of a match also increases the cost of people. During the coronary period, the patient may have dab during the dengue season or may even want to buy a dab in hot weather. You have to buy one or two cotton saris a year. Lungi is to be bought. Towels are to be bought. But the situation is like this, the price of rice alternative is also increasing, hobby is a distant thing.
As the days go by, the prices of goods will go up, inflation will go up, and people's income will go up this is what is happening. If the price of banana doubles then what is the problem, the question may arise. In that case, it is seen that the national wage has not increased as much as the cost of living has increased in the country from 2010-11 to 2020-21. According to the BBS, from 2010-11 to the year 2020-21, the wage rate has increased by about 61 percent. In contrast, the price index has increased by 74 percent. According to CAB, commodity prices in Dhaka increased by 95 percent from 2010 to 2020.
Golam Rahman, president of CAB and former commerce secretary , told Prothom Alo , “The price of goods will go up. It remains to be seen whether the income has increased accordingly. My personal opinion is that more or less everyone's income has increased, purchasing power has increased. The income of many has decreased in the post-Covid-19 period. The price situation has also become fragile. Some people have become richer. '
Time is hostile
Time, of course, is hostile in all respects. For two years in a row, covid has reduced global production, disrupted supply. As a result, inflation has been rising worldwide for several months now. In the United States, one of the most sensitive countries to unemployment and inflation, the inflation rate in February 2021 was 1.6 percent. One year later, that inflation is now 7.9 percent. Not only the United States, but all countries are struggling to control inflation. Bangladesh is not far from it. Especially where most of the consumer goods have to be imported. Inflation is rising here too.
The limited income people of the country are struggling under the pressure of new inflation. The crowd is growing in front of the TCB truck. Among these, various kinds of talks of the policy makers including the increase in purchasing power were also creating annoyance. However, the government is trying to take into account the suffering of the people. VAT has been waived on edible oil. Initiatives have been taken to increase product sales through TCB. An initiative has been taken to give cards to one crore families, with which they will get the opportunity to buy daily necessities at affordable prices. But much depends on the world situation, including the outcome of the Ukraine war.
Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission member Shah. Abu Raihan Al Beruni told Prothom Alo that a review meeting on the price of edible oil would be held soon after the reduction of VAT. But now that the prices of daily commodities have gone up a bit, it is because of the world market. The government is taking various steps to bring down the prices. The benefits will be available soon.
Then, now
According to BBS statistics, the price of a hali sabri banana in the post-independence country was around 80 paise. That means a banana could be bought for 15 paise. And now the price of a good quality Hali Sabri banana is at least 40 rupees.
The prices of essential commodities in Dhaka in 1972 are known from the Dhaka Commercial History Book of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI). The book cites District Gazetteers and newspapers as sources, saying that in 1972, the price of rice in Dhaka was around Rs 69 per ounce. Now it is around 1,600 in Dhaka. This means that the price of rice has increased 28 times. Exactly 100 years ago, the price of rice was 8 rupees 63 paise.
Let's find out the price of a product in 1982. The price of salt was a little more than 18 rupees. Wheat was available at 30 rupees per quintal.
The Dhaka Chamber, however, did not give an account of the prices of banana, dab (coconut), desalai or sari-lungi. It is found in old documents of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS). The price of sabri banana is taken from there.
The exact price of coconut in 1972 is not known. However, BBS has mentioned the price of coconut, which gives an idea of the price of coconut. Because, the price of coconut and coconut is pretty much the same. According to BBS, the price of a coconut in the financial year 1981-82 was 63 paise. Now it costs 60 rupees to buy a coconut.
After independence, the price of one ounce of onion in the country was 7 paisa. The litter system has not yet been introduced in the milk business. Milk was traded at the same price. The price was 1 rupees 6 paise. Sugar was available at 2 rupees 13 paise per ounce.
Now gas is used more as cooking fuel, then there was wood. The price of Gajari wood was 5 rupees 11 paise per ounce. To light a fire in this wood, one had to buy a match for 10 paisa. Now in the age of auto or self-burning stoves, the value of Desalai has decreased. But in the market, each match is still sold for two rupees.
At that time many people used to cook kerosene oil. Kerosene stoves were especially popular among the youth in the mess. White 22 ounces (34 ounces a liter) of kerosene had to be bought for 63 paise. In the current market, the price of 22 ounces of kerosene is around 52 rupees. Last month, the government increased the price of kerosene from Tk 75 per liter to Tk 60.
What was the market price like in 1972?
Consumer rights organization CAB was established in 1986. They have the latest list of commodity prices in Dhaka in 1982. It can be seen that at that time the price of fine rice was 9 rupees 75 paise per kg. Among the food grains, ration wheat was Tk 3.89 per kg, lentil pulses were Tk 6.15, soybean oil was Tk 26 and onion was around Tk 6.
Cab says that in 1982 a liter of cow's milk was Rs. One kg of beef was available at 23 rupees per kg. The average price of vegetables was 5 rupees 6 paise per kg. The price of salt was 2 rupees per kg. Sugar was available at 14 rupees per kg.
According to CAB, the cost of living in Dhaka increased by 16 percent from 1982 to 1990. From 1991 to 2000, it increased to just over 6 percent. From 2001 to 2009, it has increased by more than 6 percent. From 2010 to 2020, the cost of living in Dhaka has increased by 92 percent.
২০০৯-২০২০
According to Cab, in 2009 a dab in Dhaka cost around Rs. It was sold at an average price of Tk 74 in 2020. In the capital, if it is a little bigger now, the price of a coconut is 60 rupees. In some cases 100 rupees.
The perfumed soap that was 20 rupees in 2010 is now 49 rupees. The cotton sari that used to be available at Rs 390 has now gone up to Rs 60.
Drink a cup of tea while standing on the street, it costs at least six rupees. Tea vendors say that in 2009 it was about three rupees. That year the price of open tea was 18 rupees per kg, which is now 48 rupees.
In 2009 an egg was 7 rupees. That will exceed 9 rupees in 2020. Eggs are still worth 36 rupees. Again the question may arise, what is the problem if the price increases with the increase in income? The answer is that everyone's income does not increase as much as the price increases. Even before Corona as a government, about three and a half crore people were below the poverty line. During the Corona period, the poverty rate rose from 21 percent to 42 percent (over six and a half crore), according to a survey by various non-governmental organizations.
Selim Raihan, executive director of the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM), a private research firm, linked the rise in prices of essential commodities such as rice and pulses to the rise in prices of a banana and a coconut. He said that if Dabwala had to buy rice at Rs 35, he would increase the price of dab. If the price of edible oil and flour goes up, the price of monkey bread sold in tea shops will go up. That will again increase the rickshaw fare. The cost of rickshaw riders will also increase. The price of diesel increases the transportation cost of all products.
Selim Raihan said, 'The products we call daily commodities do not contain bananas or dabs. But people always have to buy these. The demand structure of many years ago and the demand structure of today is not the same. He said that many people eat a banana and a monkey to have lunch or lunch. As the price of bread and bananas rises, so does the cost of living.
0 Comments