A staggering 71 per cent of households in Bangladesh expressed concerns over rising food prices, on the backdrop of persisting high inflation throughout 2023, and deepening public struggle to cover living costs amid stagnating wages.
Making the disclosure, the World Bank (WB) in its latest food security update added that the food consumption cost in Bangladesh is much higher than its neighbouring countries India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bhutan and Nepal during October and November last year.
Pakistan however saw the highest food inflation among these nations.
Kitchen Market analysts said steps taken by the government to reduce inflation were inadequate and syndicates exerted a heavy influence on the local markets last year.
According to the World Bank, Bangladesh was under “Red” category, one of the countries where food prices increased between 5 per cent and 30 per cent. Red is the second highest category of the World Bank for nations suffering high inflationary pressure.
Food consumption cost in Bangladesh rose 12.5 per cent year-on-year back in August this year, the highest rate witnessed by the country since October 2011. Annual food inflation previously rose to double digits in FY11 and FY08, reaching 14.11 per cent and 16.72 per cent respectively.
In this “Red” category, Bangladesh was among 71 other nations, including Uganda, Laos, Egypt, Honduras, Kenya, Iran, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Africa, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
The World Bank food security update further mentions that in Bangladesh, government targets for 2022-23 production of food grains were marginally underachieved. Other food items such as mustard seed set new records.
The government has been procuring for buffer stocks until December 10 last year, and there were stocks of 1.85 million tonnes, compared with 1.76 million tonnes in June and other programmes. Procurement of rice exceeded targets by 11 per cent.
Nevertheless, Bangladesh remains a food importer, and the softening of commodity prices has caused the food grain import bill to be 1.4 per cent lower than in 2022, and prices of non-grain food items were 20 per cent lower.
Domestic rice prices have remained largely stable, although the price of high-quality rice has fallen since April. Bangladesh introduced a rice export ban on October 17 that includes aromatic and non-aromatic rice, the report adds.
According to analysts, inflation can be brought under control within mid-2024 if measures are properly taken as soon as possible.
The food item market in the country, which is mostly import-driven, has heated up since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war. Despite the price increase in locally produced food products, the total increase was relatively low.
At the beginning of 2023, a few dishonest businessmen hiked the rates of nearly all essential commodities. This resulted in the record-high prices of eight kitchen items – chili, broiler chickens, eggs, potatoes, onions, cumin, beef, and sugar.
