The inflation picture painted by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) just ahead of the budget presentation for FY 2024-25 is extremely worrying.
Although the overall inflation is 10 percent, food inflation is much higher than this. There has been a lot of discussion on the issue of high inflation for the last few years, but no effective steps have been taken by the government.
In Bangladesh, the poor and people with limited incomes are being affected the most by the increase in prices of daily necessities such as rice, pulses, edible oil and sugar. Their income has not increased much. Analysis done by CPD has shown that the price of rice has increased more for the poor than for the rich.
The price of coarse rice has increased by 30 percent in the last five and a half years. The coarse rice which was sold at 40 taka per kg in January 2019 is being sold at 52 taka per kg this May. During the same period, the prices of Miniket and Paijam varieties of rice have increased by 17 and 18 percent respectively.