While many vegetables are cheaper, some items remain expensive or scarce.
Traders at Male’s local market are facing a significant decline in business this Ramadan, with fewer customers and lower prices for fruits and vegetables.
In previous years, the market would be packed with shoppers. However, this year, vendors report a 60 percent drop in the number of customers. As a result, revenue has fallen by 40 percent, forcing traders to sell their goods at lower prices than what it cost them.
- Onions: Dropped from bet ween MVR 35 to MVR 25 per kg to MVR 10 per kg
- Cabbage: Previously MVR 30–25 per kg, now MVR 14–16 per kg
- Carrots: MVR 25 per kg
- Lettuce: Dropped from MVR 100 per kg to MVR 45 per kg
A vendor, who used to earn MVR 60,000 daily during Ramadan, now makes around MVR 20,000. He said that the decline was due to more people leaving for the islands and fewer customers visiting the market.
While many vegetables are cheaper, some items remain expensive or scarce, such as garlic, priced between MVR 75 and MVR 100 per kg, and young coconut, which costs over MVR 45 a piece. A 1.5L bottle of young coconut water is being sold for MVR 150–180.
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