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The point-to-point inflation in December 2021 hit 13-months high at 6.05 per cent as the raise in diesel and kerosene prices continued to push up the prices of non-food items, officials said on Tuesday.
In October 2020, the general inflation was recorded 6.44 per cent by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.
In November 2021, the government increased the prices of kerosene and diesel by Tk 15 per litre amid criticisms that the move would ultimately lead to high inflation and increase in prices of food and non-food items.
Former Bangladesh Bank governor Salehuddin Ahmed said on Monday that checking inflation would be difficult for the government in the coming months.
More adverse impacts of the fuel oil price hike are imminent, he said.
The Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation made profit over 43,000 crore since 2014-15 as it did not adjust prices of fuel oils with the fall in prices.
A meeting of the of the coordination council on budget and resource headed by finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on December 22 decided to increase the inflation rate to 5.5 per cent in the current fiscal year from the projected 5.3 per cent due to the price hike of imported commodities and their impact on the local market.
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistic, the price hike of non-food items that have overtaken the price hike of food items since October 2021 crossed 7 per cent in December 2021.
The consumer price index of the BBS on the basis of the 2005-06 base year showed that general inflation is higher in rural areas than in urban areas.
The general inflation in villages was recorded at 6.27 per cent compared to the general inflation at 5.66 per cent in cities.
The BBS data also showed that non-food inflation in cities was higher than villages.
The rate of overall inflation in October 2021 was 5.4 per cent and the food inflation was 5.3 per cent.
The general inflation which was hovering around 5 per cent in the first half of the past year went over 5.5 per cent since August 2021 following rise in food prices amid the supply side constrains.
Centre for Policy Dialogue in a report released in December said that the institutional weaknesses to pre-estimate the actual demand for rice and non-rice products were responsible for the high food inflation on the local market.
Such inflation benefitted a number of market players amid lax monitoring by the government agencies.
(NA)
