The Bangladesh Bank yesterday announced an array of measures to bolster its fight against stubbornly high inflation, a major headache for the new government.

Bangladesh Bank also raised the benchmark policy rate by 25 basis points to 8 percent

The private sector credit growth in Bangladesh nosedived to single digit in July as both banks and borrowers face multiple challenges amid lingering economic uncertainty at home and abroad and the growing political crisis centring next year’s national elections.

While the government is distracted by elections, the financial economy will suffer

Bangladesh’s private sector credit growth surged to 14.07 per cent in August, almost touching the central bank’s target for the entire fiscal year, an ominous sign for the economy since it may stoke inflationary pressures. 

Private sector credit growth in Bangladesh rose further in July despite a contractionary monetary policy adopted by the Bangladesh Bank for the current fiscal year to tame higher inflation. 

Private sector credit growth in Bangladesh accelerated to a four-year high of 13.66 per cent last fiscal year from what was in the preceding year. 

Private sector credit growth remained slow in October as bankers lent cautiously ahead of polls.