By Serajul Islam Quadir
DHAKA, Sept 11 (Reuters) - The prices of food and other essentials rose sharply in Bangladesh on Friday, and traders blamed mainly panic buying because of the floods.
"This is a result of panic buying, especially after reports in newspapers and rumors that the capital Dhaka might fully go under water," said Yusuf Abdullah Harun, president of the Bangladesh Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
"There is no shortage of rice, wheat, sugar and salt," he told Reuters. Yet, the prices of these essentials registered up to 20 percent rise on Thursday.
Onion and pulse posted the highest rise, up to 50 percent, traders at Dhaka's New Market said.
The floods, triggered by rain and fed by water rolling down from upstream India, have ravaged the south Asian country for more than two months, leaving some 25 million people homeless or stranded.
Dhaka residents rushed to the markets -- both wholesale and retail -- after words spread that the Dhaka-Narayngonj-Demra (DND) flood protection embankment might collapse under surging floods.
The 17-km (10-mile) embankment, which also serves as a highway, protects more than one million people on the fringes of Dhaka city.
The embankment developed cracks and seepages at many points, and hundreds of troops and volunteers had worked day-and-night to repair them, officials and witnesses said.
"The supplies are plenty, more are coming by boats after the flood snapped road links and there is no fear of imminent shortage," one trader said.
Commerce ministry officials said the price hike might have been triggered by traders hoarding goods in hope of getting higher prices.
"This is not unusual in such a desperate situation that traders will hide their food and other stocks to force buyers to pay more," one official said.
Both traders and officials said prices of some edibles including vegetables would certainly rise in the coming months as floods had washed away gardens and delayed replanting.
Onions, which sold at 45 taka per kg on Friday against 30 taka on Thursday, would be in short supply until the next harvest around December.
Many other winter crops including potatoes, mastard seeds and spices may also suffer production loss or planting delay, traders said.
The floods have washed away about 100,000 tonnes of edible salt, the Bangladesh Salt Mills Owners Association said.
The commerce ministry called for a meeting with business leaders on Monday to review the flood impact on people's day-to-day living, officials said.
The meeting would take stock of supply and demand positions, prices and commodities available in ready stocks, they said.
Weather forecasts on Friday said the floods would get worse in the majority of the 43 affected districts and would remain static or improve slightly in others.
But the floodwaters will not recede fully until the end of September, they said.
Dhaka's Ajker Kagoj newspaper, quoting unnamed meteorology specialists, said on Friday the country might be flooded until the middle of October.
($1 = 47 taka)