June's CPI inflation shoots up to 9.20pc
Wednesday, 1 August 2007
Siddique Islam
The country's Consumers Price Index (CPI) inflation shot up to 9.20 per cent on the point-to-point basis in June last from 8.05 per cent in May 2007, official sources said.
The rate of inflation went up by 1.15 percentage point in June over that of the previous month due mainly to the increase in prices of food items.
During the period, both food and non-food prices increased because of the growing demand for the essential commodities in the local markets, the sources added.
Food prices rose to 9.82 per cent in June last from 8.35 per cent in May 2007 while non-food items' prices rose to 8.34 per cent from 7.77 per cent.
Besides, the inflation rate moved up to 7.20 per cent in June last from 7.06 per cent of the previous month on the annual average basis, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data, released Tuesday.
"The inflationary pressures on economy has slightly gone up during the period due mainly to the increase in prices of food items in the local market as well as in international markets," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE Tuesday.
He also said the existing upward trend of inflation might continue in the near future if the overall flood situation deteriorates further across the country.
However, the pressure of prices in urban areas was higher than in the rural areas. The general inflation in urban areas stood at 9.35 per cent in June last against 8.08 per cent a month ago on the point-to-point basis.
The overall inflation in rural areas reached 9.14 per cent in June last from 8.04 of the previous month because of the increasing prices of food items.
Meanwhile, the Policy Analysis Unit (PAU) of the central bank is going to organise a national seminar on 'Inflation in Bangladesh: Supply or Demand Pressures?' to find out the real cases of inflation.
Finance and Planning Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam is expected to attend as the chief guest while former Finance Minister and Bank Asia Limited Chairman M Syeduzzaman will chair the seminar.
More than 100 experts including economists and policy makers have already been invited to attend the seminar, scheduled to be held in the CIRDAP auditorium on August 19 next.
The central bank will prepare a set of recommendations on the basis of speakers' views at the seminar, which will also be put forward to the top policy markers for taking necessary measures to curb the inflationary pressures on the economy.
"We will try to quantify the inflationary pressures from both the supply and demand sides to know the real causes of inflation through the seminar," Resident Economic Advisor of the BB Syed M Ahsan told the FE Tuesday.
Ahsan, who will present a keynote paper in the seminar, said the central bank is trying to analyse in a systematic way the inflationary pressures of both the supply and demand sides.
Besides, the central bank has been continuing to pursue cautious, restrained monetary policies since the second half of 2005 with a view to curbing the inflationary pressures on the national economy.
The BB also wants to keep the CPI inflation within the range between 6.5 per cent and 7.0 per cent on an annual average for the current fiscal.
The country's Consumers Price Index (CPI) inflation shot up to 9.20 per cent on the point-to-point basis in June last from 8.05 per cent in May 2007, official sources said.
The rate of inflation went up by 1.15 percentage point in June over that of the previous month due mainly to the increase in prices of food items.
During the period, both food and non-food prices increased because of the growing demand for the essential commodities in the local markets, the sources added.
Food prices rose to 9.82 per cent in June last from 8.35 per cent in May 2007 while non-food items' prices rose to 8.34 per cent from 7.77 per cent.
Besides, the inflation rate moved up to 7.20 per cent in June last from 7.06 per cent of the previous month on the annual average basis, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data, released Tuesday.
"The inflationary pressures on economy has slightly gone up during the period due mainly to the increase in prices of food items in the local market as well as in international markets," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE Tuesday.
He also said the existing upward trend of inflation might continue in the near future if the overall flood situation deteriorates further across the country.
However, the pressure of prices in urban areas was higher than in the rural areas. The general inflation in urban areas stood at 9.35 per cent in June last against 8.08 per cent a month ago on the point-to-point basis.
The overall inflation in rural areas reached 9.14 per cent in June last from 8.04 of the previous month because of the increasing prices of food items.
Meanwhile, the Policy Analysis Unit (PAU) of the central bank is going to organise a national seminar on 'Inflation in Bangladesh: Supply or Demand Pressures?' to find out the real cases of inflation.
Finance and Planning Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam is expected to attend as the chief guest while former Finance Minister and Bank Asia Limited Chairman M Syeduzzaman will chair the seminar.
More than 100 experts including economists and policy makers have already been invited to attend the seminar, scheduled to be held in the CIRDAP auditorium on August 19 next.
The central bank will prepare a set of recommendations on the basis of speakers' views at the seminar, which will also be put forward to the top policy markers for taking necessary measures to curb the inflationary pressures on the economy.
"We will try to quantify the inflationary pressures from both the supply and demand sides to know the real causes of inflation through the seminar," Resident Economic Advisor of the BB Syed M Ahsan told the FE Tuesday.
Ahsan, who will present a keynote paper in the seminar, said the central bank is trying to analyse in a systematic way the inflationary pressures of both the supply and demand sides.
Besides, the central bank has been continuing to pursue cautious, restrained monetary policies since the second half of 2005 with a view to curbing the inflationary pressures on the national economy.
The BB also wants to keep the CPI inflation within the range between 6.5 per cent and 7.0 per cent on an annual average for the current fiscal.