Food price inflation on the rise

Food price inflation has been on the rise, both in urban and rural areas, while the overall inflation rate on point-to-point basis decreased slightly by 0.10 percentage point from that of February and stood at 10.06 percent in March.
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), food price index soared to 12.92 percent in March, showing an increase of 0.20-percentage point from that of February.
But, rate of inflation of prices of non-food items declined by 0.63-percentage point in March as compared to that of February. Non-food inflation in March stood at 5.63 percent, while it was 6.26 percent in February.
However, in rural areas the overall inflation rate has decreased by 0.08-percentage point and stood at 10.08 percent in March. On the other hand, the rate declined by 0.12 percent in urban areas and stood at 10.02 percent in March.
According to the BBS data, the rise in food price inflation has been more pronounced in urban areas in March compared to what it has been in rural areas.
Food price inflation in urban areas has increased by 0.22 percentage point compared to that of February, reaching 13.81 percent, while it has increased by 0.19-percentage point in rural areas and stood at 12.54 percent.
In case of non-food items, inflation rate in urban areas has decreased by 0.53 percentage point and stood at 5.70 percent. On the other hand, it has reduced by 0.32-percentage point in rural areas and stood at 5.60 percent.
“The decrease of inflation of non-food prices has affected overall inflation rate, but what is of concern is that the rate has been rising in case of food items," an official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) said.