Staff Reporter :
Bangladesh’s headline inflation cooled in August, reaching its lowest point in more than three years after a brief uptick in July.
Fresh figures from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), released on Sunday, show that point-to-point inflation stood at 8.29 per cent in August, compared to 10.49 per cent in the same month last year. The July rate was 8.55 per cent.
At 8.29 per cent, inflation is now at a 37-month low – the last time it was lower was in July 2022, when it came in at 7.48 per cent.
In practical terms, this means that a good or service costing Tk 100 in August 2023 would be priced at Tk 108.29 in August 2024.
A year earlier, in July 2023, overall inflation had spiked to 11.66 per cent amid the political turmoil that unseated the Awami League government. In the aftermath of the July Uprising, inflation remained stubbornly high, oscillating between 9 and 10 per cent.
This year, inflation eased to 9.05 per cent in May and slipped further to 8.48 per cent in June, before edging up slightly in July.
Although the August data offers some respite, inflation is still well above the government’s target. The FY2025-26 budget has set a goal of 6.5 per cent, while the central bank continues to maintain elevated policy rates to tame price growth.
The BBS breakdown shows that food inflation inched up marginally to 7.60 per cent in August from 7.56 per cent in July. In contrast, non-food inflation dropped to 8.90 per cent in August from 9.38 per cent the previous month.
In rural regions, inflation slipped to 8.39 per cent in August from 8.55 per cent in July, while urban areas saw a sharper fall, declining to 8.24 per cent from 8.95 per cent.
