Within just a week, prices of staples, including rice, sugar, onions, egg plant and other vegetables have increased by Tk. 5 to 15 per kg. For families with low and fixed incomes, this increase is hard-hitting, affecting their food basket and nutritional requirement.

Every year, we report on the practice of increasing food prices ahead of and during the month of Ramadan. But, this year, with the excuse of excessive rainfall and flooding in one part of the country only, the price hike has started earlier. But how much the destroyed rice and crops in affected areas contributed to this price increase, is still not clear.  

We must also remember that the worst affected from the natural calamities are people who are going to be the most burdened with this extra cost. Even if it is argued that the price of some essentials increased due to rainfall, it does not account for the wide range of commodities, such as sugar and broiler chicken, whose prices have been hiked. 

Strong government monitoring needs to be ensured to see what is causing this hike. Are there syndicates hoarding food essentials to create an artificial shortage and adding to the inflation? A recent estimate by an FAO expert puts the number of people in Bangladesh suffering from malnutrition at 2.6 crore. Hiking the price of food items now, a trend which might continue well into the month of Ramadan, only adds to the problem, and as always it is the poor and the middle classes that will be affected the most.