Inflation dropped to 5.02 per cent in January, the lowest in eight and a half years, on the back of the arrival of winter vegetables that contributed to the consumer price decline, official figures showed yesterday.
This is the third straight month of overall consumer price decline.
In December, inflation, a measure of changes in the prices of a basket of commodities and services, was 5.29 per cent, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
A decline in the price of non-food items also contributed to the fall in the overall inflation, easing pressure on the wallets of consumers. A large number of the population, especially the poor and low-income groups, still suffer for the high price of coarse rice.
The price of coarse grain, a benchmark followed by policy-makers, was Tk 44 to Tk 48 each kilogram on January 31, down 3.16 per cent from Tk 45 to Tk 50 on the last day of 2020, data compiled by the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh showed.
“Inflation depends largely on food prices. And there is pressure on the prices of rice and the price may increase in the coming days,” said Khan Ahmed Sayeed Murshid, director-general of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies.
He said keeping the price of rice steady would be essential to stabilise inflation.
Inflation had continued the upward trend between July and October due to a price hike of rice and vegetables in the wake of crops damaged by floods and rains.
Food inflation started to decrease since November, bringing down the general inflation.
Non-food inflation declined to 4.69 per cent in January from 5.21 per cent in December, BBS data showed. Consumer prices dropped in both rural and urban areas during the period.
However, inflation may see some pressure in the coming months because of a general price rise globally, said the Bangladesh Bank on Tuesday.
The central bank said it analysed the commodity and food price indexes of the World Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organisation and added that global inflation might rise in the near future.
“As a result, inflation may face a bit pressure in the near future,” said the BB.
The World Bank said commodity prices continued to surge in January with energy commodities jumping 10 per cent and non-energy commodities rising 4.4 per cent.
In December, energy and non-energy commodities rose 15.2 per cent and 5.2 per cent respectively. Agriculture commodities rose 5 per cent, metals and minerals 3.2 per cent and precious metals 1.1 per cent.
The BB has set a 5.4 per cent inflation target in the current fiscal year.
