Heena: Onion prices to drop next week

The President’s Office’s Spokesperson Heena Waleed states the price of onion which is currently soaring in the market will drop starting next week.

Many have expressed concern over the shortage of onions in the market and the high prices.

Presently, wholesalers are selling an onion sack for MVR 900. The price last Friday morning had been MVR 650 which hiked to MVR 900 just that evening.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Heena noted that the amount of onions imported to the Maldives has decreased which she attributed to a decrease in the amount of onions exported by India.

She pointed out that the Economic Ministry has a list of essential products.

“If there is a shortage of any of the products on the list, the government will undertake efforts to facilitate that product. In this trajectory, efforts are now underway to import additional onion stocks to the Maldives via STO by Saturday or Sunday,” she said.

Prior to this, one kilo of onions was usually priced between MVR 20 and MVR 25. However, one kilo of onions is presently priced between MVR 37 and MVR 40.

Apart from onions, prices of vegetables generally consumed by Maldivians have also hiked. In this regard, carrot which was previously available at a rate of MVR 25 per kilo is currently priced between MVR 30 and MVR 35 per kilo.

The price of a cabbage sack has also increased from MVR 350 to MVR 750.

Sellers attributed the hike in prices to the hike in the rate of US dollars.

Another reason cited by sellers was the hike in the price of containers which has led to a decrease in the number of people importing products such as onions in containers. As a result, they said the demand was higher than the supply.