Construction cost eases for third straight month

Construction costs in Bangladesh dropped for a third straight month in November, driven by a fall in prices of building materials, showed official figures.

The Building Materials Price Index (BMPI) stood at 6.53 percent in November, a decrease of 9 basis points from 6.62 percent in the preceding month, according to data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

In August, the BMPI stood at 6.98, the highest this year, showed data from the state-run statistical agency.

The BBS released its updated BMPI after compiling the cost of three key components, namely building materials, transport and labour charges.

Of these components, the BMPI for building materials stood at 6.74 percent in November, a decrease of 0.09 percentage points compared to October.

For labour it was 6.01 percent, down by 0.06 percentage points from October.

Similarly, transportation witness a decline to 5.47 percent in November from 5.58 percent, showed the BBS data.

The price of building materials has slightly reduced as overall market demand has slowed due to the ongoing economic downturn, according to the market sources.