Inflation in August and September was the highest in the last 11 years. The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) is yet to official release the August inflation data.

Inflation in Bangladesh rose to 9.5 per cent in August—a rise of 2.02 percentage points—due to rising commodity prices and a record hike in fuel prices, state minister for planning Shamsul Alam has said. Though the price gain spiralled in August, it declined to 9.1 per cent in September, he said. The annual point-to-point inflation in July was 7.48 per cent.

The country’s finance division, in an earlier report, had projected that inflation might surpass 9 per cent if the subsidies on fuel and gas are withdrawn. The division also assumed that it might take at least 12 months for the effects to reach a tolerable level.

Planning minister MA Mannan, at an earlier event, unofficially said that inflation declined in September. The sales of different essential commodities at subsidised prices for the lower-income people contributed to the fall in inflation, he claimed.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)