Staff Reporter :
The cost of living increased by 6.47 percent in the capital last year with the rise of prices of commodities and services by 5.81 percent, says a study report of Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) published on Sunday.
According to the statistics, cost of living had increased by 6.38 percent in 2015. Except a few items, commodity prices remained static, to a large extent, in 2016 compared with the previous year, said the CAB report.
The CAB study report has been prepared after reviewing the prices of 14 services, 114 food items and 22 other daily necessities in the city’s 15 markets.
The report says that the prices of rice and pulses increased in 2016. The price of rice rose by 2.87 percent and pulses by 10 percent on an average.
The CAB report says that the prices of all varieties of rice witnessed upward trends in both wholesale and retail markets towards the end of the year though those were almost static throughout the year. The price of coarse rise, consumed by low-income people, increased most, it added.
The prices of imported lentil and local lentil increased by 35.78 percent and 12.98 percent respectively in 2016, imported garlic by 72.06 percent while local garlic by 47 percent.
The price of sugar increased by 46.05 percent and salt 37.32 percent, tea 11.70 percent, cows’ milk 8.60 percent, meat 6.24 percent. The price of local long cloth jumped by 10.39 percent.
According to the CAB report, house rent increased by 8.77 percent in Dhaka city in 2016.
There was no improvement in public transport system in the city. The traffic jam situation worsened in 2016, the report says.
It adds that cost of medical treatment was high in 2016 through the health service section expanded in the recent years.
