Published :
Updated :
For all latest news, follow The Financial Express Google News channel.
Bangladesh experienced a marginal decrease in overall inflation to 9.74 per cent in June, despite a 0.59-percentage-point rise in food prices, according to official statistics released on Monday.
This comes after May recorded the highest point-to-point inflation rate of 9.94 per cent. Comparatively, June last year reported a much lower inflation rate of 7.56 per cent.
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data released on Monday, the 12-month average inflation rate in just concluded FY23 stood at 9.02 per cent, while the previous fiscal year recorded an inflation rate of 6.15 per cent.
BBS officials attributed the slight drop in last month’s overall inflation to a decline in the price of non-food items.
According to the state-run BBS, although food inflation increased in June, prices of non-food items dropped by 36 basis points in the last month of FY23.
On a point-to-point basis, the month-on-month consumer price index (CPI) maintained its higher note in June, with food prices experiencing the price pinch, rising by 0.59 percentage points to 9.73 per cent from 9.24 per cent in May.
However, the inflation rate for non-food items decreased to 9.60 per cent in June from 9.96 per cent in May, as per the BBS data.
Over the past few months, people, especially those belonging to the middle and lower-income brackets, have been struggling with higher prices for essential items such as rice, flour, pulses, fish, meat, sugar, cooking oil and vegetables.
Rural areas have been particularly affected by the CPI pressure, with a point-to-point inflation rate of 9.82 per cent recorded in June. In contrast, urban areas experienced a relatively lower inflation rate of 9.45 per cent in June, down from 9.98 per cent in May.
Food inflation hit rural areas hard, with the point-to-point rate swelling to 9.95 per cent in June from 9.32 per cent in May, showed BBS data. However, the non-food inflation rate decreased by 0.31 percentage points to 9.52 per cent in June compared to 9.83 per cent in May.
In urban areas, the month-on-month inflation rate significantly decreased to 9.45 per cent in June from 9.98 per cent in May. Although food inflation increased to 9.26 per cent in June from 9.13 per cent in the previous month, non-food inflation has significantly decreased.
According to BBS statistics, non-food inflation in cities dropped to 9.47 per cent last month compared to the 9.90 per cent rate in May.
Meanwhile, the wage rate slightly increased in June compared to May. The Wage Rate Index (WRI) rose to 7.39 per cent last month from 7.32 per cent in May, as shown by BBS data.