Street vendors are selling various types of dates in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, as they make their preparations for the holy month of Ramadan. BBN file photo
Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - The holy month of Ramadan begins in Bangladesh on Sunday with due religious fervour and solemnity.
Muslims are meant to fast from dawn to dusk during the lunar month, a time of restraint and austerity.
Ramadan, also known as Ramzan, is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar. It is a time when Muslims around the world focus on prayers, fasting, giving to charity and religious devotion.
President M Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Saturday greeted the countrymen and all Muslims across the world with the advent of the holy month of Ramadan. In separate messages, they prayed for the welfare of the country and the Muslim Ummah.
Meanwhile, consumers have seen their pockets pinched over the last week as the prices of Ramadan essentials have increased again, pushing up food expenditure during the fasting month.
Terming the price hike irrational, market observers said there is an ample supply of essentials while its global prices are static.
They put emphasis on market monitoring and meting out punishment to dishonest traders to prevent any manipulation.
According to the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) and Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM), the price of chickpea rose by 11 per cent (pc), grass pea by 5.0 per cent, imported garlic by 12.5 per cent, sugar by 3.0 per cent, palm by 6.0 per cent, muri by 10 per cent, some brinjal varieties by 25-45 per cent and date by 8.0 per cent in a week.
Prices of rice, beef, mutton and soybean oil were being sold 10-42 per cent, 14 per cent, 22 per cent and 11-14 per cent higher respectively compared to that of the last year, the TCB said.
Experts suggested that the government should gear up monitoring to keep pressure on traders to prevent irrational price hike.
The commerce ministry should publish data on local production, import and international prices on monthly basis to inform consumers about prices, they added.
BBN/SSR/AD