& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Inflation rate goes up to 7.68pc

Rejaul Karim Byron
The inflation rate of both food and non-food items continues to soar almost every month and stood at 7.68 percent in general last July, increasing by .33 percentage point from the previous month, according to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.
In food items inflation stood at 9.18 percent, climbing up by .45 percentage point from the previous month, while in non-food items it increased by .15 percentage point to 5.47 percent.
The inflation trend has been upward since July 2004, excepting for a few months. In July '04, the general inflation rate on point-to-point basis was 5.65 percent. In food items, inflation was 6.54 percent while in non-food items it was
4.38 percent.
Economists fear that the recent fuel price hike and another round of price spiral ahead on the occasion of Ramadan will further flare up the inflation. In fact, the prices of commodities have already started to rise in the run up to Ramadan.
Last week the government raised the prices of diesel and kerosene by 15 percent, triggering the transport owners' demand of raising transport fare. Now, if the transport costs go up, prices of daily essentials will increase once again.
A housewife from Dhaka's Mugdapara area Wahida Yasmeen Rina told The Daily Star that a pair of small hilsa fish, which she had bought for Tk 240 last week, cost her Tk 500 yesterday. The prices of vegetables, spices, oil and sugar have also seen rise over the last few days. "If the government raises the prices of different commodities, what can the shopkeepers and small businessmen do?" Rina said.
Rina, who has to maintain her family with the limited income of her banker husband, is now finding it increasingly difficult to manage her household expenses in the wake of the never-ending price spirals of daily essentials.
Rice contributes 60-70 percent to the inflation index. According to yesterday's market rate provided by the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh, prices of all varieties of rice have increased by 14-20 percent in the last one year.
In the last one month, prices of hilsa, chicken, sugar, eggs, onions and ginger have also increased. Prices of onions alone have witnessed a rise of 44 percent.
Zaid Bakht, research director of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, said the inflation rate has already been on the rise for some time, so hiking prices of oil was not done at the right time. The government could have adjusted the higher international oil prices by reducing the tax, he said.
Risein oil prices will also push up the irrigation cost, which will ultimately increase the prices of food items and other daily essentials further.
"The government may consider reducing taxes on the essential food items and cut down public expenditure to tackle the situation," Bakht suggested.