The inflation rose again in February after five consecutive months of declining trend amid depreciation of taka against US dollar.
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), food inflation also increased along with overall inflation. However, non-food inflation remained unchanged.
The statistic shows that overall inflation rose by 8.78 percent in February. In January, overall price inflation was 8.57 percent.
In February, 8.19 percent of inflation was in food and 9.98 percent in non-food products. At that time, there was a 7.98 percent inflation in food products and 9.61 percent in non-food products in the city.
In August last year, inflation rose to over 9 percent. That rate of inflation was the highest in the last 11.9 years (144 months). In May 2011, the highest rate of inflation was 10.20 percent. Then inflation never exceeded 9 percent.
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After August 2022, the inflation rate continued to decline again. In January this year, it decreased by 8.57 percent.
On the other hand, according to the latest inflation estimates, inflationary pressure is still higher in rural areas than in urban areas.
In February, the overall inflation rate in urban areas was 8.75 percent, while in rural areas it was calculated at 8.80 percent. In addition to overall inflation, the rate of inflation in rural areas was higher in both the food and non-food sectors.
Meanwhile, the prices of goods in the market saw an increasing trend even though the inflation rate decreased according to the government in the last few months.
Even the cost of broiler chicken, one of the major sources of protein for low-income people, has risen above the bicentennial mark. As a result, common people are not in comfort zone for many days, said SM Nazer Hossain, vice-president Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB).
While prices of most commodities in the market have risen in recent weeks, the prices for a number of commodities that have fallen is very small.
In such a situation, the statistics of the increase in the inflation rate were published in February.
Eggs, broiler chicken, and cultured fish are key protein sources for millions of limited-income groups of people in the country. But the people of lower-income groups are cutting intake of these protein-rich foods because of rising prices to adjust to their limited income, he said.