The overall point-to-point inflation increased for the third month in January by 0.15 percentage points to 7.50 per cent from December due mainly to a hike in house rent in the first month of the new year. Officials of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday said although food inflation declined in January, rise in the prices of non-food items especially house rent was the main reason for the increase in the overall inflation in the month.
In December, the overall inflation increased by 0.20 percentage points to 7.35 per cent and in November it rose by 12 percentage points to 7.15 per cent amid political unrest that disrupted the supply chain of commodities.
‘The hike in house rent in January was the main reason for the increase in non-food inflation which have impacted on the overall inflation,’ BBS director general Golam Mostafa Kamal said while releasing consumer price index for January on Wednesday.
He said the prices of other non-food items including furniture, household items, medical services, transportation, educational equipments also rose in January.
The BBS data showed that the non-food inflation rate increased by 0.65 percentage points to 5.53 per cent in this January from 4.88 per cent in December last.
The food inflation, however, declined by 0.19 percentage points in January to 8.81 per cent from that of 9.00 per cent in the previous month.
BBS officials said the transportation of commodities returned to normalcy after the tensions on the political front eased. The end to the transportation chain disruption has contributed to food inflation to decrease, they said.
The overall point-to-point inflation in the urban areas was 7.98 per cent in January which was 7.58 per cent in December.
The overall inflation in the rural areas was 7.24 per cent which was 7.22 per cent in December.
The food inflation declined to 8.39 per cent in rural areas in January from 8.63 per cent in December.
The non-food inflation in rural areas was, however, rose to 5.17 per cent in January from 4.69 per cent in December.
In urban areas, the food inflation rate declined slightly in January as it stood at 9.80 per cent, down from 9.89 per cent in December last year.
The non-food inflation rate in urban areas, however, witnessed an upward trend in January as it stood at 6.04 per cent, up from 5.13 per cent in December last.
The national wage index rate also witnessed a 9.16-per cent growth in this January to Tk 8,123.29 from Tk 8,020.88 in December.
-With New Age input
