It is a high inflation year for the country that witnessed a rise in food prices because of the historic floods.

When the fiscal 1998-99 began. the Inflation rate was 6.99 per cent. Since then it has gone up considerably. According to the government reports, the 12-month average annual rate of inflation till March 1999 stood at 8.40 per cent.

For the same period (April-March) last year, inflation was 2.52 per cent.

According to statistics, this is going to be the highest infla'-tion year since 1990-91. In that year, inflation rate for Dhaka city stood at 8.9 per cent. Since then, it came down considerably and never crossed 5.2 per cent.

According to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the surge in inflation rate occurred due to the sharp upward trend in the food index, which recorded an increase of 11.13 per cent till February of the passing fiscal year.

On the other hand, non-food index has slightly decreased

over the period.

In July 1999, food index increased to 7.37 per cent. It was 7.68 per cent in the next month. In December, the index increased to 10.50 per cent and finally in February, it was 11.13 per cent.

On the other hand, non-food Index increased to 6.43 per cent in July 1999. It stood at 6.16 per cent in August. In December, non-food index decreased to 5.14 per cent and finally it was 4.75 per cent in February.

However, the general index slightly increased from 7.06 per cent in July to 8.80 per cent in February.

On the other hand, broad money showed a large increase of Tk 3479.90 crore or 6.23 per cent during July-February period of this fiscal year compared to the increase of Tk 2631.20 crore or 5.19 per cent for the same period. Of the broad money componentsO. deposits rose by Tk 3078.40 crore or 6.45 per cent while currency outside banks increased by Tk 401.50 crore or 4.29 per cent.