Inflation rises to 5.31pc in February

Fuelled by the continued rising trend of food inflation, the general point-to-point inflation rate in the country slightly rose to 5.31 percentage point in February, up from 5.15 percentage point in January.

The general point-to-point inflation rate was 5.03 percentage point in December last year.

"The general point-to-point inflation rate slightly rose to 5.31 percentage point in February," said planning minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Tuesday while releasing the monthly consumer price index (CPI) after the ECNEC meeting.

The general point-to-point inflation rate in February last year was 5.62 per cent.

General point-to-point inflation rate, that is the percentage change in the CPI during the last 12 months, in November last was 5.38 per cent, in October was 5.57 per cent, in September 5.53 per cent, in August 5.37 per cent, in July 5.40 per cent, in May 5.45 per cent, in April 5.61 per cent, 5.65 per cent in March and 5.62 per cent in February.

According to data of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the point-to-point food inflation rose to 6.84 percentage point in February from 6.53 percentage point in January.

The planning minister said the inflation usually witnesses a rising trend in January and July and the inflation rate in the previous month slightly increased due to the price hike of beef and edible oil which have an impact on the inflation trend.

According to the BBS, the average general point-to-point inflation rate in the last fiscal year was 5.92 per cent, which was 6.41 per cent in fiscal year 2014-15, 7.35 per cent in fiscal year 2013-14, 6.78 per cent in fiscal year 2012-13.

The BBS data showed the point-to-point non-food inflation rate, however, slightly declined to 3.07 per cent in February 2017, down from 3.10 per cent in January, 2017.

Besides, the general inflation rate at the urban level in February increased to 5.62 per cent while it was 5.14 per cent at the rural level. At the rural level, the food inflation slightly increased to 6.66 per cent in February, up from 6.28 per cent in the previous month, while the non-food inflation declined to 2.46 per cent in February against 2.52 per cent in January this year.

In urban areas, the food inflation increased to 7.22 per cent in February, up from 7.11 per cent in January.

The non-food inflation rate was, however, the same as it was 3.91 per cent in January and also in February.

The point-to-point national wage index witnessed an increasing trend with 6.88 per cent in February as against 6.65 per cent in January.

The average year- to-year rate of inflation from March 2016 to February 2017 also declined to 5.41 per cent, which was 6.15 per cent from March 2015 to February 2016.