Inflation moved up marginally for the second straight month on the back of rising non-food inflation as consumers were on buying spree during Eid ul-Fitr. The July inflation stood at 6.36%, which was 6.25% in June, as prices of non-food items spiked, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) latest data released yesterday. Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal explained the causes of soaring inflation, saying the celebration of Eid last month has pushed the demand side against the supply side, which leads to increase inflation. “People from all walks of life bought non-food items like clothes during the festival, which is the main driver for increasing inflation,” he said. He added that the government would try to keep under control the annual inflation target of 6.2% for the current fiscal year. Transaction during the recent Eid stood at over Tk1 trillion, according to Bangladesh Bank. The overall month-to-month non-food inflation rose to 6.8% in July from 6.32% in June, the BBS data showed. In contrast, food inflation fell to 6.07% from 6.32% during the period. Consumer Price Index (CPI) of BBS data showed that the overall inflation at the urban area slightly increased to 7.28% from 6.91% while it soared 5.88% from 5.9% in rural area during the period. In rural area, food inflation was 5.43% in July, down from 5.76% in previous month, while non-food inflation increased to 6.69% against 6.16%. In urban area, food inflation declined to 7.58% from 7.64% and non-food inflation saw a rise of 6.96% from 6.14% during the period. The national wage index rate gained 9.55% to 9381.54 in June. The average year-to-year inflation from August 2014 to July 2015 stood at 6.35%, which was 7.28% a year earlier.
