Inflation will remain much controlled in the next fiscal year and the annual average inflation is expected to stand at around 6 percent, said Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, in his budget speech for the FY2023-24 on Thursday (1 June). 

According to his budget speech, the rate of inflation was 12.3% in FY2007-08. In the 2021-22 fiscal, average inflation was within 6.75%. Even in the last fiscal year, the average inflation was 6.15%. 

Although inflation increased due to the Russia-Ukraine war, the government has been making an all-out effort to check the inflation and mitigate its impact on the people, the speech added.

"Due to the decrease in the prices of fuel, food, and fertilizer in the global market, along with the adjustment of fuel prices in the domestic market and government initiatives to keep the food and supply systems normal, the inflation will remain much controlled in the next fiscal year and the annual average inflation is expected to stand at around 6%," the speech read. 

The finance minister claimed that despite intermittent global economic recession, in the last 14 years rise in food and fuel prices in the world markets, the government was able to keep the inflation in check.

Bangladesh sought an IMF loan to build a buffer against depleting foreign currency reserves. The global lender released $476 million in the first instalment of the $4.7 billion package it approved for Bangladesh in February.

BDST: 1701 HRS, JUN 01, 2023
MSK/SMS