The government on Sunday imposed a price ceiling for chicken and goat meats in the Kathmandu Valley in a bid to control a possible price hike during the festivals of Dashain and Tihar.

With this, meat shops cannot sell chicken and goat meats at more than Rs285 and Rs850 per kg, respectively.

Gokul Prasad Dhital, director general of the Department of Supplies Management, said the Ministry of Supplies took the decision after holding consultations with meat sellers.

The traders, however, also demanded imposition of price ceiling for live goat and chicken. In response, Supplies Minister Deepak Bohara agreed to hold talks with the traders’ umbrella bodies, according to Chaitya Prasad Shahi, general secretary of Nepal Fish-Meat Sellers’ Association.

This is the first time the government had fixed a ceiling on retail prices of meat. The ceiling will remain in effect until the Chhath festival.