Inflation drops slightly to 9.24% in April

The general point-to-point inflation rate declined slightly by 0.09 percentage points to 9.24 per cent in April this year, compared to last month.

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) revealed the latest data on Wednesday through the Consumer Price Index (CPI), Inflation Rate and Wage Rate Index (WRI) in Bangladesh.

The inflation rate was 9.33 per cent in March and 8.78 per cent in February.

The country’s inflation rate had reached 9.52 per cent in August last year — the highest in over 11 years — due to rising commodity prices and record hikes in fuel prices. But it fell to 9.10 per cent in September.

According to the BBS, the inflation rate was 6.29 in April 2022.

Meanwhile, the wage rate has increased by 0.05 per cent to 7.23 per cent in April this year from 7.18 per cent in March. The wage growth is 2.01 percentage points lower than the inflation rate, which indicates that the purchasing power of the wage earners reduced in the last month.

According to BBS data, food inflation dropped to 8.84 per cent in April this year from 9.09 per cent in March. But non-food inflation remained at 9.72 per cent in April, the same as in March.

The BBS data did not fully reflect the current situation in the kitchen markets. Essential commodity prices are higher compared to the BBS data and still rising across the country, Consumers Association of Bangladesh President Golam Rahman told The Business Post.

“The real inflation rate is more than the BBS data represents. In fact, the inflation situation has significantly worsened and that has already negatively impacted the low and middle-income people across the country,” he said.

Bangladesh had set an inflation target of 5.6 per cent in the national budget for the ongoing financial year of 2022-23.

Urban and rural situation

Meanwhile, the inflation rate in urban areas rose at a higher rate than that of rural areas in the last month.

In April, the rural inflation decreased to 8.92 per cent from 9.32 per cent in March.

The food inflation in the rural areas was recorded at 8.78 per cent in April, down from 9.06 per cent in March.

The non-food inflation rate also decreased to 9.33 per cent in April in rural Bangladesh from 9.82 per cent in March.

On the other hand, urban inflation increased to 9.68 per cent in April from 9.36 per cent in March.

The food inflation in urban areas was recorded at 9.10 per cent in the last month, down from 9.14 per cent in March. However, non-food

inflation in urban areas rose to 9.96 per cent in April from 9.59 per cent in March.

“It is difficult for the limited-income people to survive amid a high inflation rate in the country. The government should increase the wages of the limited-income people,” Golam Rahman said.

The government should also bring inflation under control by increasing the monitoring system in both wholesale and retail markets to stabilise the essential prices, he added.