Due to the political instability after the military coup, the price of domestic rice has increased exponentially. Before Thingyan this year, it rose to 93,000 kyats per bag at Shwebo pawsan rice. In early June, it has increased again to 110,000 kyats per bag, according to market research.
Due to the rise in the price of rice and basic food items, the inequality gap is getting worse and more difficult when people have to spend their basic salary for food.
“The life of our manual laborers is the worst. The price of sidecar fuel goes up. The price of rice has gone up, so I am struggling for my five family members. Even if the woman sells snack food on the other side, it’s not enough money for family. In the meantime, it’s not easy to be afraid of others,” said Ko Ko Kyaw (not his real name), a sidecar driver living in Yangon who is carrying the burden of five family members.
As a consequence of political instability, the rule of law is becoming weaker; the people who suffer most from the increasing shortage of jobs and the skyrocketing prices of basic food items are the grassroots, and they are in a desperate situation.
She opened a restaurant, and used the old rice paddies for food. Now that the price has gone up, there is not much profit left for us. We’re just tired,” said an urban resident.
Rice prices have gradually increased since the end of Thingyan, and have continued to rise until early June, according to a nearby rice depot.
“This is the time when rice prices start to rise. It’s going to rain, so the rice prices would not be down. And the electricity power was always out, so the mills couldn’t run very well. And the labors, fertilizers, and oil prices go up, so rice prices rise. If it’s about four or six months, it’s not convenient to store the rice for a long time because of fungus infection and so on,” said a rice entrepreneur.
“Continuously, Brothers, if we buy a basic bag for 55,000, kyats, we have to sell it for 60,000 kyats. After calculating the cost, we can’t buy it again for 55,000 kyats. The basic bag becomes 60,000 kyats and we have to sell it for 65,000 kyats. Of course, there is the difficulty of getting more capital,” he said about the situation of a rice shop.
At the end of May and early June of the previous year 2022, the price of new Shwebo Pawsan rice and Shwebo Pawsanhate rice from 65,000 kyats per bag to 110,000 kyats per bag in May 2023 this year.
It is investigated that in early June 2022 last year, the price of zeeyar rice and sinthwe rice from 33,000 kyat per bag to 65,000 kyat per bag of zeeyar rice and 73,000 kyat per bag sinthwe rice in early June this year.
At this time last year, a bag of plain Pawsan rice was only up to 45,000 kyats, but this year it is up to 86,000 kyats per bag. It is reported that the price of a taungpyan rice bag has increased from 55,000 kyats to 97,000 kyats this year.