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Food inflation eases into single digits

Star Business Report
Food inflation slowed to single digits for the first time in 15 months, thanks to a bumper crop and a fall in food prices on the international market.
Non-food inflation is still high and has increased over the previous month, according to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data for the month of February released yesterday.
Food inflation was 8.92 percent in February on a point-to-point basis, down from 10.90 percent in January.
Non-food inflation rose to 13.57 percent in February from 13.16 percent a month ago.
Many traders, instead of hoarding, released their stocks due to a bumper production, pulling down the food prices, BBS Director General Shahjahan Ali Mollah told reporters.
The hoarding tendency among traders eased to some extent as food prices fell on the international market, he added.
The overall inflation decreased in February by 1.16 percentage points to 10.43 percent, according to BBS data.
Asked about the government’s projection that the overall inflation will come down to single digit within this fiscal year, the BBS director general said, if non-food infla-
tion declines sharply alongside food inflation, the overall inflation may fall to single digit.
As the taka started to gain against the dollar in recent times, inflation may come down to single digits in the current fiscal year, Mollah said.
At a seminar in Chittagong on Sunday, Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman said that if coordination can be made between fiscal and monetary policies, the overall inflation could be brought down to single digits in the current fiscal year.
The central bank governor said inflation will be brought down substantially by implementing the monetary policy.
Mollah said the prices of rice, lentil, vegetables, fruits, spices and edible oil decreased in February.
However, he said, as costs of transportation, electricity, garments and healthcare services marked a rise, non-food inflation shot up.
The BBS director general also
said the base year for calculating inflation will be changed soon. At present, the inflation rate is calculated taking fiscal 1995-96 as the base year.
However, he said the new base year will be fiscal2005-06 as there has been a significant change in lifestyle and food habit over the years.
In the new system, the list of commodities will be much longer — with 400 commodities for the urban area, up from 150 now.
Mollah said, though inflation increased in the recent times, wages also marked a rise.
The overall wage increased by 13.54 percent in February compared to the same month a year ago, meaning the wage rate rose by about 3.11 percentage points compared to inflation.
Mollah said the government distributed 243,312 tonnes of rice among low-income people from July to February through 'open market sales' atTk 24 per kg.