Price hike rigours has country groaning

Spiralling prices are breaking the fiscal backbone of people throughout the country. Outside Kathmandu Valley, it is the Dhangadhi people that are the worst hit -- facing an average of 21.37 per cent price hike, with rice at 10.5 per cent more, lentils at 45 per cent more, cooking oil at 20 per cent more and vegetables at 10 per cent more compared to July 2008. June-September is usually high pricing time in Nepal but this year's prices are at an all time-high.
According to Nepal Rastra Bank, regionwise the price rise was 14.5 per cent in Kathmandu valley followed by 11.5 per cent in both Tarai and the Hills in mid-June 2009.
Biratnagar, Janakpur, Birgunj, Naryangarh, Pokhara and Bhairanawa have not been spared either. Prices of rice, lentils and edible oils are skyrocketing in these towns. "We are not taking much profit," said Bishnu Prasad Sharma, a retailer at Bhairahawa, "Our profit is not more than 10 per cent." Retailers in other towns agreed that market intervention was a must to curb prices. "Stockists are the culprits," blamed Shankar Man Gurung, owner of Gurung Provisional Store at Chipledhunga, Pokhara, "Some stockists are manipulating the market." Pokhara is experiencing an all-time high price of vegetables -- cauliflower Rs 80/kg, tomato Rs/55 kg and green chilly Rs 90/kg. "I have never seen such high prices in my life," Lakshmi Bastola, 45, a housewife said.
In the towns bordering India, the lowest prices of food grains are seen in Birgunj, a major route of transit to India and abroad. Lentils are the highest priced consumer goods in the town with Rs 130 and Rs 100 for a kg of Rahar and Masuro pulses, respectively.
Interestingly, the price hike has not affected less consumed commodities. "Though the price of lentils has increased by 30-40 per cent the price of beans -- Kerau, Bodi, Bhatmas -- has not risen much," said Shyam Prasad Sah, president of Janakpur Chamber of Commerce.
Price of essentials goods like rice, lentils and cooking oils have become almost double in a year, from July 2008 to July 2009, throughout the country. However, the skyrocketing had begun since early this June. Consumers and retailers are blaming stockists for the price hike and are urging the government to intervene in the market.
Propelled by food and beverages, the year-on-year inflation as calculated by the consumer price index rose to 12.3 per cent in mid-June 2009 from 11 per cent in the same period of the previous year.
The review period's price of sugar and sugar-related products rose by 12 times to a whopping 62.3 per cent in comparison to an increase of 5.5 per cent in the same period the last fiscal year. The price indices of vegetables and fruits increased by 55.5 per cent in sharp contrast to last year's decline of 3.3 per cent.
Similarly, the price indices of meat, fish and eggs as well as pulses' sub-groups in the review period grew by 29.8 per cent and 27.7 per cent as compared to an increase of 12.6 per cent and 11.1 per cent in the same period last year. The subgroup of grains and cereal products also witnessed a price rise of 6.6 per cent compared to an increase of 21.2 per cent in the corresponding period of previous year.