Traders sell new potatoes at Tk 150 a kg

Retailers in Dhaka are selling newly arrived potatoes at Tk 150 a kilogram as the prices of old produce have crossed the fixed levels again after a brief drop.

The traders and customers in Shantinagar, Shahjahanpur, Malibagh, Moghbazar, Rampura and other areas appear to be less interested in the new arrivals due to the high price on Friday, reports bdnews24.com.

Md Anwar, a trader in Malibagh, said he was selling old potatoes at Tk 45 a kg and most customers chose this produce.

He bought 10 kg of the new arrivals from the wholesaler on Thursday but sold only half the produces.

Small consignments of the new produces are arriving from India, he explained the reason behind the high price.

“The new potato cultivation season has just begun in Bangladesh. The prices will drop when our local products arrive,” he added.

“New potatoes have arrived, but there is no sign of a drop in prices. I had to buy old potatoes at Tk 45 a kg,” said Gias Uddin, a resident of Moghbazar.

The consumers from low-income groups in Dhaka enjoyed some relief as potato prices dropped to the government-fixed levels at Karwan Bazar around a week ago.

After an unrestrained hike for quite some days, dealers of the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh are selling the root vegetable at a fair price.

The government has increased the maximum retail price of potato by Tk 5 to Tk 35 a kg recently after failing to restrain the prices.