DHAKA, Jan 2, 2019 (BSS) – The general point to point inflation rate in December last further eased to 5.35 percentage point from the previous month (November, 2018) due to the slight decrease in both food and non-food inflation.
“The general point to point inflation rate slightly eased to 5.35 percentage point in December last,” said Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal today 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 November, 2018 was 5.37 percent, 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 declined to 5.28 percent in December which was 5.29 percent in November.
After revealing the data, the Planning Minister said that the price of major commodities in international market including sugar, milk and palm oil has been witnessing a declining trend, while the price of sugar was the lowest over the last 10 years.
“There was apprehension that the inflation rate will increase in December. But, that did not happen … the declining trend of global price of milk, sugar and palm oil also put an impact over the declining trend of inflation in the country,” he added.
The Planning Minister also hoped that the trend of inflation would remain in a comfortable zone in this fiscal within the fiscal target of 5.5 percent.
Extending his heartfelt thanks to the people of his constituency, Kamal said the country’s people could have imagined before the election that the ongoing development projects would be halted if there is any change of the government. “But, that didn’t happen as the people of the country exercised their voting rights in favor of the pro-liberation forces,” he added.
He also hoped that Bangladesh would reach such a position under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina that the people could not have imagined before. “We won’t fail Insha Allah,” he said.
The BBS data showed that the point to point non-food inflation rate also declined slightly to 5.45 percent in December down from 5.49 percent in November.
Besides, the general inflation rate at the urban level in December declined slightly to 6.14 percent while it remained at 4.91 percent at the rural level.
At the rural level, the food inflation remained at 4.84 percent in December while the non-food inflation came down at 5.05 percent in December as against 5.06 percent in November this year.
In urban areas, the food inflation declined to 6.27 percent in December down from 6.32 percent in November. The non-food inflation rate also witnessed a declining trend with 5.99 percent in December which was 6.09 percent in November last.
The national wage index rate witnessed a 6.18 percent growth in December with 159.88 points against 6.26 percent growth in November with 159.28 points.
The average year-to-year rate of inflation from January 2018 to December 2018 declined to 5.55 percent, which was 5.70 percent from January 2017 to December 2017.