The rate of point-to-point inflation in January increased marginally to 5.15 per cent compared to that of the previous month December after a falling trend in the two preceding months, official statistics showed Tuesday.
Since November 2016, the inflation rate rose last month (January) as the prices of food items increased significantly, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data showed.
According to the BBS, the rate of point-to-point inflation was recorded higher in October 2016 to 5.57, after dropping to 5.38 per cent and 5.03 per cent respectively in the months November and December 2016.
In January last year, the point-to-point inflation was, however, recorded at 6.05 per cent, the BBS data showed.
The BBS data, unveiled by Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal Tuesday, said since the prices of some food items went up during the month under review over that of the previous month.
According to the BBS, food inflation in January 2017 increased by 1.15 percentage points to 6.53 per cent while that of non-food items dropped slightly to 5.10 per cent from the previous month's 6.49 per cent.
Mr Kamal expressed the hope that although the Consumers' Price Index (CPI) was slightly higher last month due especially to increased rice price, the overall inflation in the current financial year (FY) 2016-17 will be within the government's target.
In the national budget, the government set a target to keep the inflation rate below 6.0 per cent.
According to the BBS, the rate of inflation in urban areas fell while in the rural areas it increased in January this year.
The statistics showed the point-to-point inflation in the rural areas increased to 4.92 per cent in January compared to 4.46 per cent in December.
In the rural areas, food inflation was recorded at 6.28 per cent and non-food inflation at 2.52 per cent in January.
Data of the national statistical organisation showed that inflation rate in urban areas last month recorded a fall to 5.57 per cent from that of 6.07 per cent in December, 2016.
The food inflation on point-to-point basis in urban Bangladesh rose to 7.11 per cent last month from 6.74 per cent in the previous month.
The non-food inflation, however, dropped to 3.91 per cent in January last from 5.35 per cent in the previous month, the BBS data showed.
The BBS in its data showed that the average inflation rate on yearly basis (February 2016 to January 2017) dropped to 5.43 per cent from 6.20 per cent in the corresponding period last year.
The BBS also unveiled its national Wage Rate Index (WRI) Tuesday. It said the growth of the wage index rate was higher at 6.65 per cent in January. In the previous month December, the growth rate in the index was recorded at 6.56 per cent.
Among the sectoral WRI, the wage index in the agricultural sector rose to 6.70 per cent last month from that of 6.57 per cent in December.
In the industrial sector, the WRI increased to 6.46 per cent in January while it decreased to 6.77 per cent in the services sector in the same month.
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