Prices of rice, edible oil, sugar go down
KATHMANDU, March 26: Price of essential commodities like rice and edible oil have come down in the market compared to prices recorded a fortnight ago.
Traders say prices have come down due to improved supplies in the market.
Prices of popular varieties of rice like Jeera Masino, Sona Mansuli and Indian Basmati, among others, have dropped by as much as Rs 10 per kg over the period. “Commodities supply from both India and domestic sources is increasing these days. This has resulted in drop in prices of some rice varieties,” Ishwor Shrestha, proprietor of Season Enterprises, Balaju, told Republica.
According to traders, more than 75 percent of total rice demand is the country is met through imports from India.
Prices of Jeera Masino and Sona Mansuli have come down by Rs 5 per kg and Rs 10 per kg, respectively, to Rs 60 and Rs 45. Similarly, India Basmati has become cheaper by Rs 5 per kg to Rs 85.
Similarly, prices of edible oil and sugar have also dropped. While prices of mustard, soybean and sunflower oil have come down by Rs 5 per liter each to Rs 130, Rs 125 and Rs 135 respectively, sugar has become cheaper by Rs 5 per kg to Rs 65.
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“Price of edible oil depends on the international market and the value of rupee vis-à-vis US dollar,” Pabitra Bajracharya, president of Nepal Retailers´ Association said, adding, “Slight appreciation of local currency has caused edible oil prices to go down.”
According to Bajracharya, soybean and sunflower oil mostly come from Malaysia and Singapore. While mustard oil are processed in the country itself by importing crude oil from countries like Austria, Ukraine and Canada.
Meanwhile, prices of lentils have remained unchanged over the period. Red and split black lentils are available at Rs 120 and Rs 140 per kg, respectively, while green gram lentil and pigeon pea costs Rs 105 and Rs 120 per kg respectively.