Kathmandu, 17 November: This year, the election season started as soon as the big festivals such as Dasain and Tihar were over. There should have been excitement in business during the festive season. On top of that, the consumer market should be buzzing during the election. But businessmen said that there is not much enthusiasm in the market. They say that consumption has not increased due to the sharp increase in prices.
Pavitra Bajracharya, president of the Retail Trade Association, said that there has been an increase in the prices of daily consumables including food grains, but the consumption has not increased. According to him, the traders increase the prices of food and daily consumables under various pretexts at different times but do not reduce them when they fall. Recently, there has been a higher rate of increase in the prices of food items including cooking oil, rice, and flour.
“Edible oil has increased from Rs 35 to 40 per liter. Flour has also increased to Rs 15 per kg. After India tightens its export, the price of rice skyrocketed by 200 to 300 rupees per bag in the market.
He says that even though the situation has normalized now, the price increase that happened during extreme situations such as the Corona epidemic, and the Russia-Ukraine war, has not decreased. Thus, Bajracharya said that even under normal conditions, the government regulatory body is weak in monitoring the market.
“During the election, the government will not be present in the market. Regulatory bodies are weak,” said Bajracharya.
“The other reason for the increase in market prices is the donation paid by the businessmen to the political parties, he said.
People’s News Monitoring Service
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