Onion price hits record, still on rise

FT ONLINE

Onion price continued to rise even after hitting the all-time high of Tk 150 a kg in the city on Wednesday.

Bangladesh's onion price is now the 15th highest across the globe (US$ 1.76 a kg), according to Numbeo.com, the world's largest web-database on the cost of living in different countries.

Its data shows that consumers in the countries, like - the UK, Austria, Germany, Iceland, Denmark, Belgium, Italy and Sweden etc, are now buying onions even at cheaper rates ($1.23 to $1.73 a kg) than those of Bangladesh.

Japanese consumers are paying the highest $2.88 for a kg of onion now, it said.

The current price of onion is the highest ever in the country, as the previous record was Tk 140 a kg in November 2012, according to the Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM).

The local onion was sold at Tk 140-150 a kg, and onion of imported varieties at Tk 130-140 a kg on Thursday.

However, the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) is yet to update its price list of onion in line with the current market rates.

TCB website still shows that the spice is being sold at Tk 115-125 a kg in the markets.