Kathmandu, March 31
Market prices of essentials like food items have started soaring amid rumours of another blockade in the near future. There already seems to be a dearth of petroleum products in the market, and taking advantage of these rumours, manufacturers have started hiking the price of edibles.
The price of sugar and sunflower oil has gone up, just days after market prices had started stabilising at the end of a blockade and the Madhesh movement. Traders say prices of other goods have started increasing, albeit slowly.
The price of sunflower oil has increased by Rs 10/litre, whereas sugar price has surged by Rs 7/kg. Retailers say industries themselves are indulging in black marketing as they enjoy monopoly in the market.
Ram Krishna Manandhar, vice-president of Retailers’ Association, admits price of sunflower oil has started increasing, just days after price stabilisation. There’s no reason why sunflower oil should cost more. Only Amrit brand sunflower oil and a foreign-branded sunflower oil are available in the market these days, thanks to an artificial shortage.
Earlier, a carton of sunflower oil, containing 10 litres of oil, used to cost around Rs 1,225. These days, it costs about Rs 1,360.
In the meantime, sugar mills have also increased the price of sugar by up to Rs 7/kg. These days, sugar costs Rs 75/kg in the market. At a time when Salt Trading Corporation has a depleted stock of sugar, industries involved in the production of the sweet substance have hiked its price by up to Rs 6/kg, the association informed.
