‘Inflationary pressure won’t ease soon’

The inflationary pressure in Bangladesh will not ease anytime soon as the commodity prices will continue to spiral in the days to come, experts said today.

How long the high inflation trend would continue or how harsh it would become entirely depends on the fate of the Russia-Ukraine war and the price of commodities in the global market, they said.

The monetary policy is not working well to contain the inflation while bad times are looming large as the general point-to-point inflation may hit 10 per cent, said Ahsan H Mansur, executive director of the Policy Research Institute.

He was speaking at a discussion titled "New challenges in the economy of Bangladesh" organised by the Economic Reporters' Forum (ERF) at its auditorium in the capital yesterday.

The deficit in the balance of payment would not reduce very soon though export earnings and inward remittance would increase, imports would decline and there will be a desirable balance in foreign trade, Mansur said.

He said the government is merely doing anything to rein in inflation.

Shamsul Alam, state minister for planning, said economists of the country mostly tend to express concerns while they could not see the achievements and possibilities of the country.

"But foreign research institutions have highlighted the strength and potential of the economy of Bangladesh," he added.

"There was no alternative to raise the price of fuel oil. But the government has taken various steps and hopefully the inflationary pressure will come down by October. Despite that, the inflationary pressure will be there," Alam said.

Abul Kasem Khan, former president of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Mohammad Hatem, executive president at Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association; Nihad Kabir, chairperson at Business Initiative Leading Development; Md Habibur Rahman, chief economist of the Bangladesh Bank, Sharmeen Rinvy, president of the ERF, also spoke while and SM Rashidul Islam, general secretary, moderated the event.