By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Oct. 10: As the great festivals of the Nepali people, Dashain and Tihar, are approaching nearer, prices of food grains, pulses and cooking oil have skyrocketed in the market.
According to Nepal Retailer Association, prices of oil and pulses have increased by 5-10 per cent in the retail market in a week.
Pabitra Bajracharya, retailer and former president of Nepal Retailer Association, said that the price of oil, pulses and lentils has increased significantly in the retail shops due to the monopoly of the wholesalers and the suppliers.
He said that the wholesalers used to say that the prices had gone up as the productions were not at par the market demand when the industries were shut down due to the lockdown.
“The claim of the wholesalers to hike the price of pulses and oil is not reliable in this context as there is no shortfall of supply of essential goods in the market at present. The wholesalers are trying to take advantage of festival season when the demands of goods are often high by hiking prices,” he told The Rising Nepal.
The price of sunflower oil has increased by Rs. 20 per litre to Rs. 180 and soybean oil by Rs. 15 per litre to Rs. 165 in the retail market at present.
Likewise, price of mustard oil, which was Rs. 255 per liter, was raised to Rs. 265, he said.
The price of red lentil rose by Rs. 25 per kg to Rs. 150 per kg while black gram (maas) by Rs. 20 per kg to Rs.170.
Bajracharya, however, said that the price of rice has not increased.
There is slim chance of hiking the price of rice in the festival as the demand of rice does not increase in Dashain compared to other items like oil, pulses and sugar.
In the past few days, price of sugar has slightly decreased in the market, he said, adding that the price of sugar dropped by Rs. 1 per kilogram in the wholesale rate.
Wholesale price of sugar dropped to Rs. 82 per kilogram. However, the price of sugar in the retail shops was more than Rs.85 per kilogram.
He said that the government should focus on monitoring to control the artificial price hikes of goods in the market during the festival period.