FROM PAGE B1

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.

However, if the real inflation rate is incorporated into the recent price increases then the real scenario will be found to be worse, said the think tank.

In March, the weighted average interest rate stood at 4.01 per cent, according to Bangladesh Bank.

The CPD executive director went on to say that the matter of concern was that people of the lower-income tier were not getting much returns for the inflationary pressure.

“It has a great impact on the public life. Nobody wants to lose their money,” she said.

During the pandemic, the weighted average lending and borrowing rates in all scheduled banks came down sharply, according to the analysis.

As a result, the interest rate spread has come down, adding to the woes of the commercial banks, it said.