Bangladesh’s overall point-to-point inflation edged up to 8.34pc in September from 8.26pc in August, reversing three consecutive months of decline driven primarily by rising food prices.
The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics released its monthly report on consumer price index, inflation, and wages on Wednesday. Food inflation rose to 7.22pc in September from 7.02pc in August, an increase of 0.20 percentage points.
Non-food inflation, however, eased slightly to 9.30pc from 9.32pc over the same period. Overall inflation had previously fallen by 1.16 percentage points between May and August, dropping from 9.42pc to 8.26pc.
Wage growth slowed to 7.90pc in September from 8.05pc in August, indicating mounting pressure on real purchasing power. The gap between inflation and wage growth widened to 0.44 percentage points from 0.21 percentage points in the preceding month.
Rural inflation rose to 8.38pc from 8.31pc in August, while urban inflation increased to 8.26pc from 8.20pc. In rural areas, food inflation climbed to 7.18pc from 7.01pc, while the urban food rate increased to 7.25pc from 7.04pc. The annual average inflation rate stood at 8.65pc for the 12 months ending in September.
Financial Mirror/AH
