CPD says

STAR BUSINESS REPORT

Parking money in banks is no longer attractive as surging inflation is eating away 2.2 per cent of savings in real terms, effectively discouraging depositors, states an analysis of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).

“The real interest rate on bank deposits has reached an unprecedented stage in the recent past periods causing the value of the savings of ordinary people to be depleted,” said CPD Executive Director Fahmida Khatun.

The analysis was presented at a CPD media briefing on the think tank’s premises in the capital yesterday on the “State of the Bangladesh Economy in FY21-22”.

It said the real deposit rate, calculated as the weighted average of the monthly deposit rate of all scheduled banks adjusted with the point-to-point monthly consumer price index inflation, fell from 0.03 per cent in March 2020 to -2.21 per cent in March 2022.

According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, inflation reached 6.29 per cent in April, the highest in 18 months, whereas in March it was 6.22 per cent.