Economic Reporter :
The general point to point inflation rate in November last further eased to 5.37 percentage point from the previous month due to the slight decrease in non-food inflation.
“The general point to point inflation rate slightly eased to 5.37 percentage point in November,”said Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Tuesday while releasing the monthly consumer price index at ‘Meet the Press’ held at the NEC Conference Room in the city’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area.
The general point to point inflation rate in October was 5.40 percent, in September was 5.43 percent while it was 5.48 percent in August. The general point to point inflation rate was 5.51 percentage point in July down from 5.54 percentage point in June. The general point to point inflation rate in May was 5.57 percentage point down from 5.63 percentage point in April.
The general point to point inflation rate in March this year was 5.68 percentage point while it was 5.72 percentage point in February. The general point to point inflation rate in January was 5.88 percentage point.
According to the data of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the point to point food inflation, slightly increased to 5.29 percent in November which was 5.08 percent in October.
After revealing the data, the Planning Minister said that the supply of all essential iteams is now stable and normal side by side the price of food items like green chili, onion, turmeric, rice, chicken are on the downtrend.
“There is no mismatch in the demand and supply chain, the price of essentials, which are produced in the country, is low alongside the imported items while the exchange rate is almost stable over the last one year,” he added.
Answering to a query, AHM Mustafa Kamal, commonly known as Lotus Kamal, said that the employment opportunities are being created in the country. “We hope that in future, there will be no tension for us regarding employment generation,”
The Planning Minister also hoped that the trend of inflation would remain in a comfortable zone in this fiscal.
He also expressed his high hope that the GDP growth rate at the end of current fiscal year would reach 8.25 percent.
The BBS data showed that the point to point non-food inflation rate, however, declined slightly to 5.49 percent in November down from 5.90 percent in October.
Besides, the general inflation rate at the urban level in November declined slightly to 6.21 percent while it was 4.91 percent at the rural level.
At the rural level, the food inflation slightly increased to 4.84 percent in November which was 4.52 in October, while the non-food inflation came down at 5.06 percent in November as against 5.53 percent in October this year.
In urban areas, the food inflation also declined to 6.32 percent in November down from 6.35 percent in October. The non-food inflation rate also witnessed a declining trend with 6.09 percent in November which was 6.41 percent in October last.
The national wage index rate witnessed a 6.26 percent growth in November with 159.28 points against 6.19 percent growth in October with 157.88 points.
The average year- to-year rate of inflation from December 2017 to November 2018 declined to 5.59 percent, which was 5.64 percent from December 2016 to November 2017.
