Inflation rate nears 10pc again, food price hike to blame

Inflation in the country has increased again after marginal drops in the last two months as the general point-to-point inflation rate reached 9.92 per cent in August, mainly due to the uptrend in food inflation.

The overall food inflation jumped to 12.54 per cent this month.

This scenario of inflation was revealed in a report of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

The government expected inflation to decrease in August. The planning minister MA Mannan on 29 August following the ECNEC meeting told journalists that inflation would decrease by 2 to 4 points in August.

The impact of inflation can be explained such that people needed to spend Tk 109.92 in August 2023 for buying the same goods and services they could buy spending Tk 100 in August last year.

The point-to-point inflation rate was 9.69 per cent in July and 9.74 per cent in June.

The inflation reached 9.94 per cent, highest in around 12 years, last May. The annual average inflation in 2022-23 fiscal year was 9.02 per cent, the highest in 12 months.

The BBS data showed that the food inflation increased to 12.54 per cent in August up from 9.76 per cent in July. The food inflation in rural areas was 12.71 per cent while 12.11 per cent in urban areas. The inflation was below 10 per cent in both urban and rural areas in July.

Meanwhile, the non-food inflation rate declined to 7.95 per cent in August down from 9.47 per cent in July. The general point to point inflation both at the urban and rural areas also increased last month.

Non-food inflation was 7.38 per cent in rural areas and 8.48 per cent in urban areas.

The point-to-point inflation in the rural areas in August was 9.98 per cent which was 9.75 per cent in July. On the other hand, the point-to-point inflation in the urban areas in August was 9.63 per cent which was 9.43 per cent in July.