The overall point-to-point inflation increased by 0.04 percentage points to 7.48 per cent in March after one month amid a hike in food items for the second month.
The food inflation rose by 0.13 percentage point to 8.96 per cent in March which rose by 0.03 percentage points to 8.84 per cent in February.The non-food inflation, however, declined to 5.26 per cent in March compared to 5.37 per cent in the previous month.
In February, the overall point-to-point inflation decreased by 0.06 percentage points to 7.44 per cent after three months of rise.
In January, the overall inflation increased by 0.15 percentage points to 7.50 per cent, in December by 0.20 percentage points to 7.35 per cent and in November it rose by 12 percentage points to 7.15 per cent.
‘The price of food items has increased because perhaps the businessmen are trying to recover their losses that they incurred during the political unrest,’ Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics director general Golam Mostafa Kamal said while releasing consumer price index for March on Sunday.
He said the price of rice, pulse, wheat, vegetables, fruits, spices, edible oil and milk rose in March compared to the previous month.
‘The costs of non-food items like cloths, house rent, furniture, transport and medical and education declined,’ he said.
Asked if the government will be able to meet the inflation target of 7 per cent in the current fiscal year, Kamal replied, ‘We are hopeful to meet the inflation target. Now the inflation is at 7.55 per cent which will come down to 7 per cent in the remaining three months of the fiscal year,’ he said.
In the urban areas, the overall point-to-point inflation rate was 7.98 per cent in March which was 7.97 per cent in February.
In the rural areas, the overall point-to-point inflation increased to 7.21 per cent in the month from 7.17 per cent.
The food inflation rate increased to 9.98 per cent in March from 9.84 per cent in February but the non-food inflation declined to 5.88 per cent from 5.99 per cent in the urban areas.
In the rural areas, the food inflation increased to 8.53 per cent in March from 8.42 per cent in February but the non-food inflation decreased to 4.83 per cent from 4.92 per cent.
-With New Age input
