The rate of point-to-point inflation increased to 5.54 per cent last month (August) due to significant price escalation of some non-food items, according to official data.
The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data, released on Tuesday, showed the rate of non-food inflation swelled to 6.13 per cent in August 2021 from that of 5.80 per cent in July, coupled with a higher trend in both rural and urban areas.
The BBS data showed that the rate of food inflation in the national level was recorded at 5.56 per cent in August, which is 0.08 percentage points higher than the rate in July.
Meanwhile, the point-to-point inflation was recorded at 5.68 per cent in August 2020.
A senior BBS official told the FE that since the consumer price index in the non-food item had gone up, the overall inflation also showed a higher trend last month.
The expenses of people for clothing and footwear, house rent, fuel and lighting, furniture, house equipment and some other products rose, and so, the non-food inflation across the country also increased, he told the FE.
The rate of inflation both in rural and urban areas also boosted.
In the rural areas, the inflation rate increased to 5.71 per cent in August 2021 from that of 5.53 per cent in the previous month.
The food inflation in the rural areas was recorded at 5.67 per cent last month from that of 5.61 per cent in July.
The inflation of non-food items in the rural areas increased by 0.32 percentage points to 5.79 per cent in August, from that of 5.47 per cent in the previous month.
The point-to-point inflation in the urban areas went up marginally to 5.22 per cent last month from that of 5.06 per cent in the previous month, the BBS data showed.
The food inflation in the urban areas rose a little bit to 4.02 per cent in August from that of 4.01 per cent in the previous month.
The rate of inflation in the non-food items increased significantly to 6.59 per cent last month from that of 6.24 per cent in July.
Meanwhile, the 12-month average inflation between July 2020 and August 2021 was recorded at 5.53 per cent.
Several development partners, including the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, in their development outlook recently showed that the inflationary trend in Bangladesh would be within the target limit.
The BBS has also released the Wage Rate Index (WRI) on point-to-point basis for the month of August 2021, and it was recorded a bit higher to 5.80 per cent. In the previous month, the WRI was 5.72 per cent.
