The general point-to-point inflation rate in April increased slightly as it notched 8.37 percent posting a rise of 0.66 percent from that of March this year as per the base year 2005-06.“The trend of general point-to-point inflation rate increased slightly in April with 8.37 percent whereas the point-to-point inflation rate in March was 7.71 percent,” said Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) Director General Golam Mostafa Kamal.
He was unveiling the monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures at a press conference at the BBS on Tuesday. BBS Directors and other officials were present.
The general point-to-point inflation rate in February was, however, 7.84 percent.
But, as per the 1995-96 base year, the general point-to-point inflation rate in April was 7.93 percent, which was 7.74 percent in March this year. Replying to a question, the BBS Director General said some problems in the supply side might have increased the general point-to-point inflation rate in April.
As per the 2005-06 base year, the BBS figures showed, the food inflation rate in this April slightly increased to 8.68 percent from 7.50 percent in March while the non-food inflation rate in April decreased slightly as it notched 7.91 percent down from 8.04 percent in March. In rural areas, the general point-to-point inflation rate in April witnessed an uptrend notching 7.80 percent which was 7.16 percent in March. The food except the non-food inflation rate in rural areas, however, experienced an increasing trend in April registering 7.96 and 7.52 percent respectively which was 6.88 and 7.66 percent respectively in March this year.
In urban areas, the general point-to-point inflation rate in April, 2013 also witnessed a rising trend as it was 9.46 percent up from 8.80 percent in March this year.
The non-food except food inflation rate in the urban areas witnessed a declining trend in April registering 10.42 and 8.47 percent respectively which was 9.02 and 8.58 percent respectively in March. The overall average inflation rate in the country from May, 2012 to April, 2013 eased further as it stood at 6.41 percentage point compared to 9.64 percentage point from May, 2011 to April, 2012 as per the 2005-06 base year.
The overall inflation rate on average, however, stood at 7.85 percent during May, 2012 to April, 2013 period compared to 10.86 percent during May, 2011 to April, 2012 period, according to 1995-96 base year.
The BBS data also indicates that the point-to-point wage rate index in April also witnessed an increase of 12.94 percent to stand at Tk 7,633.19.
It is mentionable that currently the number of items in rural index basket for the 2005-06 base year is 422.UNB
