The proposed national budget for the 2026–27 fiscal year has cast no immediate impact on prices in the capital’s kitchen markets on Friday, with most essential commodities remaining stable amid ample seasonal supplies.
Visits to several markets in Kalyanpur and the wholesale markets of Karwan Bazar found that prices of most vegetables remained unchanged, while some items were selling at slightly lower rates than a week earlier.
In the budget, finance minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury proposed reducing the withholding tax rate to 0.5 per cent on 60 essential commodities and agricultural products, including rice, wheat, potatoes, livestock, poultry, fish, onions, garlic, ginger, salt, sugar, edible oil, and seeds.
At the city markets on Friday, broiler chicken was being sold at Tk 170-180 per kilogram, Sonali chicken at Tk 330-340 per kilogram, and domestic chicken at Tk 600-700 per kilogram.
Brown eggs were being sold at Tk 120-130 a dozen, while the white variant eggs’ prices were at Tk 100-110 a dozen.
Md Sohel, a trader from Karwan Bazar, said that chicken prices had been higher before Eid but have gradually declined since then, and there is no visible impact of the budget on the chicken or egg markets.
Rice prices remained high on Friday, with Miniket being sold at Tk 70-85 a kilogram depending on quality, while Paijam or Atash was at Tk 55-68 a kilogram, and coarse variant was at Tk 50-60 a kilogram, while loose aromatic rice was being sold at Tk 140-150 a kilogram.
The vegetable market was also stable on Friday, following sufficient supply and lower consumer turnout.
On Friday, spiny gourd, ridge gourd, sponge gourd, and snake gourd were selling at Tk 40-60 a kilogram, similar to last week.
Bitter gourd was selling at Tk 80 a kilogram, yardlong beans at Tk 50, okra at Tk 50 a kilogram, bottle gourd and ax gourd at Tk 50-60 apiece, and taro stem at Tk 80 a kilogram.
Cucumber was selling at Tk 80 per kilogram, tomatoes at Tk 80-120 per kilogram, and aubergine at Tk 50-60 per kilogram on Friday.
Green chili was being sold at Tk 60-80 a kilogram, onions were priced at Tk 50 a kilogram, and potatoes were at Tk 30 a kilogram at the capital’s kitchen markets.
Garlic was selling at Tk 120 per kilogram for local varieties and Tk 180 for imported varieties, with both items’ prices dropping by Tk 20-30 per kilogram.
Bottled soya bean oil was being sold at Tk 199 a litre from, unpackaged soya bean oil at Tk 180-185 a litre and palm oil at Tk 165-170 a litre.
Among pulses, fine red lentils were selling at Tk 160 a kilogram, medium-quality lentils at Tk 120 and coarse lentils at Tk 105.
Moong dal ranged from Tk 120 to Tk 170 a kilogram, while motor dal sold at Tk 65-75.
Unpackaged atta was priced at Tk 40-46 a kilogram; the packaged variant was at Tk 60 a kilogram; unpackaged flour was at Tk 60 a kilogram; packaged flour was at Tk 75 a kilogram on Friday; and sugar was being sold at Tk 105 a kilogram.
Beef was selling at Tk 800-850 a kilogram and mutton at Tk 1,200-1,300 a kilogram, although the shops of beef and mutton were largely shuttered.
Among fish, Katla was selling at Tk 350-450 a kilogram, Ruhi at Tk 380-450, Tilapia at Tk 200-250, and Pangas at Tk 200-220 a kilogram on Friday.
Shoppers said they had expected prices to rise following the budget announcement, but found the market largely unchanged.
A private-sector employee, Sultan Ahmed, said that the prices of most vegetables remained at last week’s levels.
‘The prices have neither increased nor decreased significantly. Most vegetables are selling between Tk 50 and Tk 80 per kilogram, although a few items are priced at around Tk 120,’ he said.
Yasin Ali, a vegetable vendor, said that prices of most vegetables had declined compared with the beginning of the month due to an ample supply of the seasonal vegetables amid less demand after Qurbani Eid.
