Prices of rice and most vegetables declined in the capital’s kitchen markets on Friday after showing a soaring trend for a long period.

Essential prices have been on an upward trend over the last year and have seriously affected the lives of common people, especially the low, middle and fixed-income groups.

The declining trend of some essentials gave them some respite but most of the consumers claimed that the price of rice was yet to reach a tolerable level.

Rice prices started to decline from mid-December and continued to show the declining trend in the first week of January as a huge quantity of rice has appeared in the market after Aman paddy harvest.

However, rice prices declined only by Tk 2-3 per kg in the capital and the price range is still higher than the same day of the previous year.

Fine grain rice price declined by 2.92 percent in a month and was sold at Tk 58-75 per kg while medium grain rice price declined by 2.61 percent in a month and was sold at Tk 52-60 per kg, and coarse rice price declined by 4.85 percent in a month and was sold at Tk 46-52 per kg in the capital on Friday, according to Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).

While visiting Mirpur-11 kitchen market, this correspondent found that consumers were in a happy mood due to huge supply of vegetables and lower prices of essentials.

Per piece cabbage and cauliflower were sold at Tk 30-40, brinjal was sold at Tk 60-80 per kg, cucumber was sold at Tk 50-60 per kg, tomato was sold at Tk 60-70 per kg, bitter gourd was Tk 60-70 per kg, bean was sold at Tk 50-60 per kg, pointed gourd was Tk 60 per kg and gourd was Tk 50 per piece.

Price of sweet pumpkin was Tk 50-55 per kg, snake gourd was Tk 60 per kg, okra was Tk 60 per kg, arum lobe was sold at Tk 70-80 per kg, green papaya was Tk 30-40 per kg and Yardlong beanwas Tk60-80 per kg. Price of green chilli increased to Tk 100-120 per kg from Tk 80-90 in a week.

Sugar pricesare yet to decline though the government has fixed loose sugar price at Tk 102 per kg and packet sugar atTk 107 per kg. Loose sugar was sold at Tk 110-115 per kg while packet sugar was sold at Tk 130-140 per kg in the capital.

Sonali chicken was sold at Tk 260 per kg while layer chicken was sold at Tk 220-230 per kg and broiler chicken was sold at Tk 150 per kg.

Farm egg was sold at Tk 120 per dozen and the local chicken egg was sold at Tk 180-190 per dozen. The beef was sold at Tk 680-700 per kg and mutton was sold at Tk 850-900 per kg.