Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Ahsan H Mansur was optimistic that the general point-to-point inflation rate would reduce below 5% by the next FY26.
“We want to bring inflation down to 7% by next June. We’ll bring it down to 5% by next FY26, and I hope it is possible. We are implementing different policy measures to this end,” he said.
The central bank governor said this while talking to BSS in an interview at the central bank headquarters in the city.
According to the latest data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), general point-to-point inflation rate in the country slightly increased in November as it reached 11.38% from 10.87% in October 2024.
The increase was mainly driven by a rise in food inflation, which increased to 13.80% in November from 12.66% in October.
Meanwhile, the non-food inflation rate also showed a slight increase reaching 9.39% in November from 9.34% in October.
Mansur said that due to floods sweeping almost across the country damaging food grains and vegetable outputs, the prices of vegetables and food items were high in the market.
“But it will come down soon. If we can bring inflation down to 7%, we’ll reduce the bank’s interest rates and policy rates,” he added.
He said the central bank has reviewed the situation in many countries, including the US, the UK, European Union, or Thailand.
“It takes at least 12 months to bring down inflation to a desired level. We have to allow that certain time,” he added.
Dr Mansur said inflation has not yet come down although monetary policies have been tightened as well as fiscal measures are being implemented to control domestic borrowings.
“We’ve already made the monetary policy very tight. We’ve increased the policy rate. I’m observing the situation and I will watch until the January data comes. So far it has been disappointing,” he added.
Explaining these, the central bank governor said this is for two reasons as the previous government manipulated data.
“Now there is no restriction. So, last year was low, this year is actual and we’re waiting for the economy to react to the doses of economic policy tightening this time,” he added.
Apart from tightening the monetary policy, Dr Mansur said the government has also removed import duties on essential food items like onions, vegetable oil, and sugar to help ease inflationary pressures on the commoners.
Dhaka Tribune