Inflation in Bangladesh down in July

General point-to-point inflation rate has dropped in the first month of the ongoing 2016-17 financial year.

It was 5.40 percent in July against 5.53 percent in June, the last month of the previous fiscal.

Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal presented the latest data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) before journalists on Tuesday.

“Food inflation rose slightly last month because of the Eid but prices for everything else except food went down. All in all, general inflation is down on a point-to-point basis,” he said.

In July, food inflation fell to 4.35 percent against June’s 4.23 percent.

Non-food inflation, however, dropped to 6.98 percent from 7.50 percent in June.

According to BBS data, general inflation in rural areas declined to 4.54 percent in July. It was 4.63 percent in June.

On the other hand, inflation in urban areas declined to 7 percent from June’s 7.23 percent.

The decrease in the inflation rate has also led to an increase in wage rates.

On a point-to-point basis, the wage rate went up to 6.13 percent in July from 6.10 percent in June.