August 12: Seizing the opportunity of the market which has become chaotic due to the Covid-19 pandemic, traders have continued to arbitrarily hike the prices of various food items such as edible oil, pulses, rice, tea leaves, Horlicks, honey and even chocolates. 

Taking advantage of the weak market monitoring of the government and political instability, traders have repeatedly raised prices. According to the Nepal Retailers Association, the price of mustard oil, which was Rs 250 per liter three months ago, has gone up to Rs 370. Likewise, the price of soybean oil, which was Rs 220 per liter earlier, has now increased to Rs 255, while the price of sunflower oil has also increased by Rs 50 to Rs 280 per liter.

Along with edible oil, the prices of pulses and rice have also increased. The price of red lentil, which was Rs 110 per kg at the time of the lockdown in April, has gone up to Rs 130 per kg.

The price of black lentil has gone up by Rs 20 per kg from Rs 160 to Rs 180 per kg. Similarly, according to the association, the price of each brand of rice has gone up from Rs 50 to Rs 100 per sack. It is said that some traders and mediators may have increased the prices on the pretext of political instability and prohibitory order.

Pabitra Bajracharya, former president of the association, said that the prices of tea leaves, Horlicks, honey and chocolate have also increased.

According to him, the price of 500 grams of Horlicks, which was Rs 370 till last April, has now increased to Rs 400. Honey, which costs Rs 600 per kg, is being sold at Rs 650 and Tokla tea that used to cost Rs 90 is being sold at Rs 130 to Rs 140. Similarly, the prices of all types of chocolates have increased up to Rs 10.

Furthermore, he said that at present, the price of every food item has gone up by 10 percent. Although there is no actual reason for increasing prices at this time, it is said that consumers are being affected by the continuous price hike. Stakeholders have said that weak market monitoring and political instability are the main reasons behind the unnatural rise in food prices in the market.

Madhav Timilsina, chairman of the Consumer Rights Investigation Forum, said traders were taking advantage of the weak government mechanism to monitor and intervene in the market and the current political instability to increase the prices of all food items. He said that it was not relevant for the prices to increase even after the consumption has decreased as the places where more food is consumed like big hotels, restaurants and party palaces are closed. He argues that the government mechanism should be honest about this.