'Rising inflation hurts rural people'

Rising trends of inflation has forced rural people to spend more to buy goods than urban dwellers, said a report of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).The BBS report said the average inflation in rural areas rose to 6.20 per cent in November. At the same time, the average inflation in the city stood at 5.59 percent. According to the BBS latest data, rural areas logged 6.20% inflation in November, up from October's 5.81%. November's food and non-food inflation breakdown in rural areas is 5.90% and 6.78%, respectively.

Prices of almost all types of daily essentials are higher in rural areas than in cities and the rural people have to spend more money for transportation, medical treatment and others. Zahid Hossain, a former lead economist at the World Bank's Dhaka office, said: "As diesel prices have risen, so have transportation costs. Rising transport costs have had an impact on the commodity market. I think that's one of the main reasons behind the November inflation rate.

"Another reason for rising prices in rural areas is a lack of market monitoring," he added.In November, a rural consumer bought a product for Tk106.20, while a customer in the city bought the same product for Tk105. 59. In urban areas, food inflation is 4.37 per cent, while in rural areas it is 5.90 per cent. However, non-food inflation is higher in urban areas than in rural areas. In November, non-food inflation rose to 6.99 per cent in urban areas and 6.78 per cent in rural areas.

According to the BBS, overall inflation in the country rose to 5.98 percent in November from 5.70 percent in the previous month (October). Besides, food inflation rose to 5.9 per cent from 5.62 per cent in October. Non-food inflation rose to 6.17 per cent from 6.78 per cent.