BANGLADESH

Consumer inflation rate has soared in January to 11.59 percent from 10.63 percent at December-end.

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) gave the figures at a press briefing on Monday.

BBS director Shahjahan Ali Mollah attributed the inflation rate hike to the rise in prices of essentials including rice, pulse, fish, eggs, fruits, edible oil and packaged milk.

In other sectors, BBS identified rise in rent, transport expense, price of garment and household costs as the key factor behind the swelling inflation.

The media was also informed that the food inflation in January stood at 10.9 percent while inflation in other sectors was 13.16 percent.

However, inflation in rural areas has gone down during the period, with the rate falling to 11.15 percent at January-end from 13.25 percent in December. Food inflation in the rural area stood at 10.18 percent and in other sectors, 13.23 percent.

Overall inflation in urban areas is on the rise, with the rate at 12.73 percent in January-end, which was 11.62 percent at the end of December. Food inflation in urban areas was at 12.56 percent and in other sectors, the inflation was 12.97 percent.

The average inflation over the past one year has been 10.91 percent.

Even though the finance minister claimed that there is no economic crisis in the country, he sees reining in inflation a big challenge for the government.

Increase in fuel prices in December 2011 caused January's hike in prices of fuel and fuel-related commodities, Shahjahan said.

The inflation rate was recorded 9.6 percent in February 2011, which rose to 10.4 percent within a month and it has stayed in double digits since then.

The highest inflation on point-to-point basis was 11.97 percent in September 2011. Overall inflation rate was recorded 11.42 percent in October 2011.

BBS published the inflation data taking 1995-1996 as the base year.

Even though the rate of inflation is in double-digit figure (over 10 percent), Shahjahan Ali claimed that the consumers are not in trouble.

"Their purchasing power has increased," he said.

"Prices of all imported goods have risen as US dollar appreciated against taka," he elaborated the cause of inflation in the non-food sector.

Asked whether it will be possible to keep the rate of inflation within 7.5 percent, a goal set in the budget for the current fiscal, Shahjahan said, "It's not the duty of BBS to control prices. Our duty is to collect data and pass them on to the authorities concerned."

BBS has been gathering data on the prices of various goods and services regularly since 1973-74. It publishes Consumers Price Index (national, urban, rural) and the rate of inflation after analysing those.

The rate of inflation is worked out taking into account three different indexes – national, urban and rural.