Staff Reporter :
The overall inflation rose by 0.15 percent in January mainly due to a hike price in non-food items, reaching 7.50 per cent. The inflation rate was 7.35 in December last.
But food inflation fell by 0.19 percent and stood at 8.81 percent in January while non-food inflation increased by 0.65 percent to reach 5.53 percent, according to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
The price of the food items came down in January as the country’s political situation had improved, said BBS Director General Golam Mostafa Kamal while releasing the data on Wednesday.
On the other hand, the non-food inflation rose due to delay in supply of raw materials, he added.
The point-to-point inflation rate in January 2013 was 6.62 percent. The BBS Director General said the food inflation in January this year declined to 8.81 percent down from 9.00 percent in December last year.
On the other hand, the non-food inflation rate increased to 5.53 percent in January rising from 4.88 percent in December last.
In urban areas, the general point-to-point inflation rate was 7.98 percent in January compared with 7.24 percent in the rural areas.
The general inflation in urban areas in December 2013 was 7.58 percent while 7.22 percent in rural areas. The food inflation declined in rural areas in January compared with the previous month and it was 8.39 percent against 8.63 percent in December.
The non-food inflation in rural areas was, however, found increasing, as it was 5.17 percent point in January compared with 4.69 percent point in December last. In urban areas, the food inflation rate declined slightly in January at 9.80 percent, down from 9.89 percent in December last year.
The non-food inflation rate in urban areas, however, witnessed an uptrend in January as it stood at 6.04 percent, up from 5.13 in December last. The national wage index rate also witnessed a 9.16 percent growth in January with Tk 8,123.29,which was Tk 8,020.88 in December.
Asked about the reason for declining trend of food inflation rate, Golam Mostafa Kamal said that improvement of political situation had an impact on the overall economy as well as the transportation of food items became named.
Besides, he said that the cereal production is witnessing a rising trend due to advancement in agriculture. The BBS Director General, however, credited the rising trend of house rent, especially in the month of January apart from non-availability of imported non-food goods, to some extent to political unrest.
He also said that other non-food items like costumes, furniture, household items, medical services, transportation, educational equipments and other non-food items also witnessed a rising trend.
