Bangladesh has been facing persistent high inflation over the last one year

In the face of a soaring cost of living, many low and middle-income people in Bangladesh have either ditched branded products or switched to smaller packs, causing consumer goods producers and marketers to record a slowdown in sales in 2022. 

In a time of elevated inflation, the government has started to borrow heavily from the Bangladesh Bank to meet the budget deficit, in a move that is set to push up the consumer price level further.

Do we have the political will to come out of it?

Our current economic situation is one in which countries usually look to the IMF for balance of payment support.

Bangladesh made gains in food production and ensured the availability of rice in recent years. But surging inflation, erratic weather, and the Russia-Ukraine war affected the availability of cereals and reduced low-income people’s access to food this year.

The taka has been devalued against the dollar in seven steps this year.

When global prices dropped, we did not see the energy prices go down in Bangladesh. Why is that?

Export earnings dropped 6.25 per cent year-on-year to $3.9 billion in September, the first fall in 14 months, as the cost-of-living crisis in the western countries took its toll on Bangladesh’s main foreign currency earning sector.  

Recessions don’t happen overnight, and people don’t stop spending from one day to the next.

Congratulations to you, my dear countrymen, welcome to heaven. But wait, heaven is…dark? One might be forgiven for thinking that here in Bangladesh at the moment, as cyclical power cuts literally leave millions in the dark for hours, and fuel prices make others see stars. It might become cheaper to buy a vehicle than the actual costs of buying a week’s fuel for it on a consistent basis. So, get walking, go green, when better than now?

PM’s directives should be followed through to the letter.

An analysis of the national budget 2022-23 for Bangladesh, amidst Covid recovery and the Ukraine-Russia war.

The world has entered another era of high inflation, and no country can escape from the heat wave of rising prices.