Point-to-point inflation rises to 11.58pc in Nov

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Jasim Uddin Haroon The national general inflation on point-to-point basis climbed to 11.58 per cent in November which was 11.42 per cent in October, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) said. The national statistical office Monday said the double-digit food inflation both in rural and urban areas of the country persisted in November mainly due to rise in prices of fuel oil. It said food inflation was high in urban areas and stood at 14.04 per cent in November. Non-food inflation remained at 9.47 per cent in the urban areas in the same month. General inflation in rural areas surged to 11.37 in November. It was 11.01 per cent in October, the BBS statistics said. Food inflation at rural areas was recorded at 11.80 per cent and non-food inflation at 10.46 per cent, according to BBS data. The country's annual or twelve months' (December 2010-November 2011) average inflation was estimated at 10.51 per cent. Official data of consumer price index (CPI) released by officials of BBS at a news conference said higher fuel price has been the major driver of the soaring inflation. BBS Director General Md Shajahan Ali Mollah said the inflation rate remained high in November mainly due to rise in prices of fuel oil. The government has hiked prices of fuel oil twice in a very short span of time recently to minimise pressure on subsidy. The BBS chief said there was increase in prices of fish, meat, dairy products, clothing, laundry items and furniture and bus fares in November, leading the surge in food inflation. Some 302 products (food and non-food) are the basket of calculating consumer price index in urban areas while the number is 210 in rural areas. The monthly comparison with the same month of the previous year showed that national food inflation stood at 12.47 per cent in November and non-food inflation at 10.16 per cent. Local think-tank Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) said as a food and petroleum importing country Bangladesh has to bear the brunt of global price hike of these items. Prof Mustafizur Rahman of CPD said food inflation might lower from December following good Aman harvest. He said rise in non-food inflation is a concern for the economy. The non-food inflation has been surging since June this year.