Inflation has almost come to a steady position: Finance adviser
It would take some time to reduce, he says
The general point-to-point inflation has almost come to a steady position, Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed said today (9 October).
"General inflation has almost declined by 1% officially...On the whole, we have been able to keep the inflation at a steady position," he said while talking to reporters after chairing the 7th meeting of the Adviser's Council Committee on Government Purchase this year held at the Cabinet Division Conference Room at Bangladesh Secretariat.
He said despite the steady trend, it would take some time to reduce inflation further and thus bring respite among the livelihood of people.
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"You all know that we have taken some decisions and measures to control inflation like reducing duty on onion and potatoes. We have also reduced duty on sugar and the reflection of the measures is likely to be seen in the market," he added.
Asked how long it would take to give full respite to people from the high inflationary pressure, the finance adviser requested all to have patience in this regard.
"The matter is complex and I don't think that inflation has increased all of a sudden as there are so many factors like market factors, monitoring, production and marketing," he said.
The adviser said from production to marketing, there are so many tiers and issues while in the supply chain, new people have replaced the old ones in some cases with such nature remaining almost the same.
Replying to another question, Salehuddin claimed that extortion has reduced, but there are also matters related to the law and order situation.
Asked about the high prices of eggs, he said the price of eggs has declined today.
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, the general point-to-point inflation rate eased further last month as it reached 9.92% in September down from 10.49% in August due to downtrend in both food and non-food inflation.
The food inflation declined to 10.40% in September, down from 11.36% in August, while the non-food inflation rate in September fell further to 9.50% down from 9.74% in August.
The general point-to-point inflation rate both at the urban and rural areas also declined last month.
