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Bangladesh witnessed a record 9.52 per cent inflation rate in August, the highest in 135 months years, and 9.10 per cent in September, according to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data.
Planning Minister MA Mannan disclosed the data at a press briefing after the meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council on Tuesday, according to local news portals.
The inflation rate was 7.48 per cent in July.
According to bdnews24.com, the BBS delayed the release of the inflation data for August and September before eventually publishing them together on Tuesday.
The state agency was criticised for not decision, with suggestions that they did not want to show official statistics where inflation was near double digits.
Many analysts believe the BBS’s inflation data is flawed and the key index is actually much higher than it is reported by the national statistical agency.
At an event on Monday, Planning Minister MA Mannan said, “Runaway inflation calmed a bit in the month of September. To what extent, you will know in a couple of days.”
In the budget for the ongoing fiscal year, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal had set an average inflation target of 5.6 per cent.
But prices of food and other commodities have been rising across the world for the past few months as the Ukraine-Russia war dealt a heavy blow to the global economy, which was still recovering from the pandemic-era sluggishness.