Inflation rate picks up

FE Team | Published: April 12, 2011 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

The government must contain inflation and ensure uninterrupted power supply, if it wants to get the Vision 2021 implemented, speakers told a seminar Saturday. The overall inflation is going up though the service sector and other key economic indicators show a good performance during the current fiscal (2010-11), they said. The speakers made the observations at a fiscal seminar on "Performance of Bangladesh Economy during the 2010-11." Economist Ayubur Rahman Bhuyan was the key speaker at the seminar. Islamic Economics Research Bureau (IERB) organised the seminar, with its chairman Shah Abdul Hannan in the chair. Ayubur Rahman Bhuyan said the rate of inflation mounted to 8.28 per cent in December 2010, from 7.54 per cent in the previous month. Average food inflation rose from 8.53 per cent in June to 10.12 per cent in December 2010. He said the trend of export and import is better than that of the previous fiscal. Merchandise export rose to 41 per cent during July-December period of FY11, and stood at $10,264 million compared to US$7,279 million during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. He said import payments have been higher mainly due to rise in import of food grains and other consumer goods. Import payments during July-December 2010 increased by 36.57 per cent in comparison with the same period in 2009. Mr Bhuyan said foreign remittance flow increased by 0.55 per cent in the first seven months of the current fiscal, whereas the hike rate was 20.92 per cent in the same period of the previous fiscal. He also said among the major economic indicators, foreign aid in the country is not satisfactory, adding that foreign aid disbursement witnessed a drastic fall during the first seven months of FY11 due to slow implementation of the foreign aided projects under ADP. Net foreign direct investment (FDI) registered an increase during the first six months of the present fiscal. During July-December 2010 FDI rose to $400 million, from $342 million in the same period in 2009, Mr Bhuyan said. He said exchange rate of Tk against per US dollar rose to Tk 71.15 at the end of January 2011, from Tk 69.44 at the end of June 2010. "No significant improvement occurred in the power sector despite hectic efforts by the government. Scarcity of gas is the main problem for the power sector and responsible for the shortage in power generation" Mr Bhuyan added. - FE Report