General inflation virtually unchanged at 9.69 percent in July

The general inflation remained virtually unchanged at 9.69 percent on a point-to-point basis for the month of July, having been 9.74 percent in June, said the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

The inflation in Bangladesh saw a slow pace in decrease while the inflation of many South Asian countries is decreasing steadily. Economists said inadequate steps of the government failed to rein in inflation.

The country’s general inflation was 7.48 percent in July 2022, which jumped to 9.69 percent in July 2023. In May 2023 the inflation jumped to a decade-high 9.94 percent.

General non-food inflation dropped to 9.47 percent in July, down from 9.60 percent in June. However, food inflation experienced an increase to 9.76 percent in July, compared to 9.73 percent in June.

The general inflation in the rural areas decreased to 9.75 percent in July from 9.82 percent in June.

In urban areas, the general inflation has decreased to 9.43 percent from 9.45 percent in June. 

Two independent sets of commodities (goods & services) are used to compute the Consumer Price Index for rural and urban areas. The rural and urban baskets cover 383 items with 749 varieties of goods and services. This index has been rebased with 2021-22 as the reference index.

The CPI items for the national and sub-national indices are classified into 12 major categories such as food and nonalcoholic beverages, alcoholic beverages, tobacco and narcotics, clothing and footwear, housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels, furnishings, household equipment, and routine maintenance of the house, health, transportation, communication, recreation and culture, education, restaurants and hotels and miscellaneous goods and services.