MAHMUDUL HASAN

Monthly wage growth for workers in Bangladesh has remained below the inflation rate for 15 months consecutively, suggesting that many people are having to reduce consumption to cope with increased financial stress.

In April, wages of low paid skilled and unskilled workers grew 7.23 per cent, which was 2.01 percentage points below the inflation rate of 9.24 per cent that month, shows the Wage Rate Index (WRI) of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

The case was similar in March, when the wages of those workers grew 7.18 per cent, which was 2.15 percentage points below the inflation rate of 9.33 per cent that month.

The average monthly wage rate of low paid skilled and unskilled labourers is estimated from the pay scale of 44 occupations, including 11 in the agriculture sector, 22 in the industry sector and 11 in the service sector.