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Dhaka Thursday,  Mar 28, 2024

Inflation eases to 6.19pc in May

EB Report

The rate of inflation in May came down to 6.19 per cent after witnessing the rising trend in three consecutive months in the fiscal 2014-15 year.

Point-to-point inflation in April was 6.32 per cent while it was 6.27 per cent in March.

“Prices of all sorts of goods and items as well as fuel in international market pushed the country’s inflation towards backtrack in May,” Planning Minister A H M Mustafa Kamal told reporters while releasing the monthly consumer price index at “Meet the Press” at the NEC conference room in the city’s Sher-e-Banglanagar today.

Replying to a query, Mustafa Kamal said there is no crisis of food and non-food items ahead of the month of Ramadan and the month of budget where price of the items are almost stable across the country.

Besides, rate of exchange in the country is almost stable for the last 5-6 years which has also put a positive impact on the inflation, he added.

According to the latest data of Bangladesh Bureau of Statics (BBS), the rate of general inflation started in this fiscal with 7.04 per cent in last July, but it came down at 6.91 per cent in August, 6.84 per cent in September, 6.60 per cent in October, 6.21 per cent in November, 6.11 per cent in December and 6.04 per cent in January.

Later, in February the rate of general inflation started to register rise in February with 6.14 per cent and 6.27 per cent in March.

Mentioning the government’s target to contain the inflation within 6.50 per cent in the outgoing fiscal, Kamal hoped the rate would remain within the target in the next month as well as in the outgoing fiscal.

Apart from the general, the food inflation also registered a downward trend while the non-food inflation posted an upturn.

At national level, the food inflation stood at 6.23 per cent in this May, down from 6.48 per cent in April while the non-food inflation slightly increased to 6.14 per cent from 6.08 per cent in previous month.

On the other hand, general inflation at urban turned down to 6.87 per cent in May while it was 5.84 per cent at rural level.

The food inflation, at rural level, also came down to 5.66 per cent from 5.99 per cent in previous month while the non-food inflation rose to 6.14 per cent as against 6.09 per cent in April.

In urban areas, the food inflation decreased to 7.54 per cent in May while it was 7.62 per cent in April. However, the non-food inflation registered an upturn at 6.14 per cent as against 6.07 per cent in April.

About the upturn of non-food inflation, Statistics and Informatics Division Secretary Kaniz Fatema said the market rate of laundry, cleaning, clothes and recreation fluctuates, which has pushed the slight upturn of the non-food items.

In addition, the rate of national wage index registered 9.44 per cent growth in May with 9238.11, which was 9169.76 point in April.

Besides, the average rate of inflation on year to year from June 2014 to May 2015 stood at 6.46 per cent, which was 7.44 per cent during June 2013 to May 2014.

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