Seasonal date traders in Dhaka are seeing moderate date sales ahead of and during Ramadan as many city-dwellers left the capital because of the renewed lockdowns there. As in previous years, hundreds of thousands of makeshift and roadside shops selling dates have sprung up throughout the city, hoping there would be a spike in sales in the weeks preceding the fasting month and throughout Ramadan.
Some traders said business was good a week before the start of Ramadan. They even saw good sales during the initial days of the fasting month. Rafiqul Islam Fahim, a retailer at Karwan Bazaar kitchen market, expressed satisfaction over date sales ahead of and during Ramadan. However, turnover was not as much as he expected because of a lack of customers.
"Sales will accelerate when customers come to the market. But because of the Covid-19 fears along with the government restrictions, there have not been large crowds. We have to accept the reality of the country and the world as well," he told thedailystar.net.
Another vendor in the same area, claims his sales are much lower than the pre-Covid period: "We have been able to keep our shop open while most of the businesses had to be shut during the restriction on movement. In that sense, we are lucky enough that we could manage our livelihood under the difficult circumstances."
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