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Non-food inflation creeps up in Sept

Food prices record decline


FE Report | Wednesday, 10 October 2018



Non-food prices rose for the country's consumers as point-to-point rate of inflation for such items went up to 5.45 percent in September.
Data released from the state-controlled Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) on Tuesday showed that the increase was 0.72 percentage points higher logged in August.
The inflation of noon-food items in September last year was only 2.98 per cent.
The BBS officials said although the inflation rate last month dropped to 5.43 per cent compared to 5.48 per cent in the previous month of August, the non-food inflation is rising.
According to the BBS data, the inflation rate for noon-food items increased to 5.45 per cent in September from 4.73 per cent in August.
In July 2018, the non-food inflation was recorded lower at 4.49 per cent.
Meanwhile, the point-to-point inflation for the food item dropped to 5.42 per cent last month from 5.97 per cent in the month of August.
After the meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) in Dhaka, planning minister AHM Mustafa Kamal unveiled the data of the consumer price index (CPI) of the country.
When asked, he said the prices of food items in the global market were lower, which helped the country to keep the inflation at lower trajectory.
Besides, the house rents, transport fare and prices of other products also stabilised over the months, Mr Kamal added.
According to the BBS data, the point-to-point inflation both in urban and rural areas dropped slightly.
In rural Bangladesh, the inflation rate in September was 4.99 per cent, compared to 5.05 per cent in August.
Rural areas were also hit by rising inflation of noon-food items.
In September this year, the rate increased to 5.22 per cent compared to 4.51 per cent in August.
The inflation of food-items, however, dropped in September, in rural areas recording 4.86 per cent, compared to 5.34 per cent a month ago.
In the urban areas, the point-to-point inflation was also recorded lower at 6.23 per cent in September from 6.28 per cent in August.
The noon-food inflation was maintained higher trend in the urban Bangladesh as it was recorded at 5.74 per cent in September, compared with 5.04 per cent a month earlier.

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