Yangonites suffer from soaring cooking oil prices

By DMG 25 Aug 2022

DMG Newsroom
25 August 2022, Yangon

Palm oil prices have reached over K15,000 per viss in some parts of the country as soaring food prices overall continue to take a toll on the Myanmar people.

The price of palm oil has increased sixfold in the 18 months since the coup, said a housewife from Yangon. “It was only K2,000 per viss before the coup. But 18 months after the coup, it is K12,000 per viss now,” she said.

Though the Myanmar Edible Oil Dealers Association has set the wholesale price at K5,000 per viss, palm oil sells for K9,000 to K15,000 in the market, according to grocers.

As a result, long lines of people queuing to buy palm oil sold by the Myanmar Edible Oil Dealers Association have become a regular sight in the commercial capital lately as the association sells under a quota of 1 viss (1.6 kg) per person at a fixed price of K5,000 per viss. Meanwhile, the minimum wage in Myanmar is just K4,800 a day.

A resident from Yangon’s Hlaing Tharyar said: “We can’t afford to buy from the market as it is sold for K15,000 per viss. So, we have to wait for the vehicles of the edible oil dealers association. We have to queue to buy from them.”

Prices are increasing because the regime has limited supply to the market, according to wholesalers.