Inflation accelerates in February after hitting the brakes for three months

Bangladesh’s pace of inflation, which had slowed between November last year and January this year, edged up 30 basis points to 5.32per cent in February thanks to a spike in both food and non-food inflation.

The consumer price index is still within the 5.4 per cent ceiling set by the Bangladesh Bank for this fiscal year.

Last month, food inflation crept up 19 basis points to 5.42 per cent, as the prices of rice, broiler chicken, edible oil and sugar went up, offsetting the gains made from the decline in the prices of potatoes, onion, vegetables, fruits and spices declined, according to data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

In February, non-food inflation lunged 48 basis points forward to 5.17 per cent, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

Inflation in rural areas increased to 5.33 per cent in February from 5 per cent in January and urban areas 25 percentage points to 5.30 per cent.