Inflation shot up to 6.29 percent in April – highest in 18 months – amid persistently high food prices and non-food prices, said Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) last evening (May 18, 2022).

In March, overall inflation was 6.22 percent.

The previous high was recorded at 6.44 percent in October 2020.

In April, food inflation, a measure of increase in prices of a basket of commodities, stood at 6.24 percent, down from 6.34 percent the previous month.

Non-food inflation surged 6.39 percent in April from 6.04 percent in March this year, according to BBS.

People in rural areas bore the brunt of higher inflation than urban areas in April.

General inflation was 6.59 percent in rural areas whereas it was 5.75 percent in urban areas, according to BBS.

Economists say that actual inflation could be higher than the BBS estimate as it has been using 2005-2006 prices for years to calculate the consumer price index.