Economists warn of raising further
Inflation in Bangladesh rose to 8.29 percent in November, driven largely by higher food prices, highlighting persistent pressures on households, especially those with low or fixed incomes.
The figure, released yesterday by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), is slightly higher than October's 8.17 percent but remains well below last year's 11.38 percent for the same month.
Data from the BBS show that the consumer price index (CPI), which tracks changes in a basket of goods and services, climbed in both rural and urban areas.
According to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), essential food items such as rice, flour, edible oils, lentils and onions, have witnessed an increase in November. Besides, late autumn rain disrupted supplies and pushed up winter vegetable prices.
Bangladesh has been grappling with persistent inflation for nearly three years. Consumer prices stayed over 9 percent until May 2025 and have remained over 8 percent since then, sparking renewed debate about the effectiveness of recent economic policies.
"Despite minor fluctuations, there has been no meaningful change in the underlying trend," said Selim Raihan, a professor of economics at the University of Dhaka.
He noted that while the Bangladesh Bank has tried to curb aggregate demand by raising interest rates, such monetary adjustments alone have been insufficient to achieve lasting price stability.
"This is because gaps in policy coordination, structural weaknesses in markets, and external shocks have collectively kept inflation elevated," he added.
Raihan said the recent surge in prices of essential food items such as onions and vegetables has been a key driver of inflation.
"This clearly reveals how fragile the agricultural supply system remains and how limited competition in markets directly pushes consumer prices upward," he added.
Volatility in global markets and dependence on imports have further compounded the situation, Raihan, also executive director of the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (Sanem), pointed out.
"In other words, current inflation is largely driven by supply-side pressures, where conventional monetary tools like raising interest rates have limited effects," he said.
Raihan added that addressing inflation requires not only monetary measures but deeper institutional reforms. These include disciplining anti-competitive market practices, improving supply-chain efficiency, ensuring transparency in trade and imports, and investing in agricultural production.
The economist said a lack of coordination among fiscal policy, monetary policy, and market oversight as a key obstacle to controlling prices. "Inflation today is not merely a macroeconomic indicator; it reflects institutional weaknesses and policy inconsistencies."
The solution, he said, lies in building a coherent, credible, and long-term policy environment. Economist Mustafa K Mujeri also made similar observations, saying that Bangladesh's prolonged high-inflation environment is unlikely to ease without stronger policy coordination beyond monetary tightening,
He said that the country has been living in a "high-inflation regime for more than three years," while the only major tool used so far has been monetary policy.
"The policy rate has been raised gradually and kept at around 10 percent for more than a year," he said, adding that the key policy gap is the absence of supportive measures to complement monetary tightening.
Striking a similar tone to Raihan, he said, "In Bangladesh, monetary policy alone cannot control inflation."
Mujeri, executive director of the Institute for Inclusive Finance and Development (InM), highlighted that supply-side factors are a major driver of inflation in Bangladesh, limiting the effectiveness of interest-rate adjustments.
Election spending and non-productive expenditures in the coming months could push inflation even higher, he warned.
He said, "If the election is held in February, money circulation - both formal and informal - will rise.
"Candidates will spend heavily, and government expenditure on election-related activities will also increase. These are not production-oriented expenditures."
He added that investment-driven production growth is unlikely during this period, while Ramadan, traditionally associated with price hikes, is likely to further intensify pressures in March.
Mujeri said whichever government assumes office after the polls will need time to take effective policy measures, delaying any immediate stabilisation.
