A file photo shows pedestrians buying vegetables from roadside makeshift shops in Dhaka. The overall point-to-point food inflation rose to 7.10 per cent in August from 6.30 per cent in July because of price hike of some food items. — New Age photo

The overall point-to-point food inflation rose to 7.10 per cent in August from 6.30 per cent in July because of price hike of some food items, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday.
‘The food inflation increased in August mainly due to a price hike of food items such as rice, pulse, fish, eggs, vegetables, edible oil, milk, fruits, tobacco and other food items compared with the previous month,’ BBS director general Golam Mostafa Kamal told reporters at a press briefing at its conference room.
The food inflation in urban and rural areas also increased in the month compared with the previous month, he said.
However, the overall point-to-point inflation declined further to 7.93 per cent in August from 8.03 per cent in July, as the point-to-point non-food inflation came down in the month to 9.59 per cent from 11.54 per cent during the period.
The inflation was calculated taking 1995-1996 as the base year.
The BBS also introduced calculation method of inflation based on the new base year of 2005-2006 in July this year.
As per the new base-year, point-to-point food inflation increased slightly to 2.25 per cent in August from 2.23 per cent in July.
According to new base-year, overall point-to-point inflation declined to 4.97 per cent in August from 5.21 per cent in July, while non-food inflation come down to 9.29 per cent from 9.94 per cent during the period, the BBS statistics released on Wednesday showed.
The inflation rate based on the new base year declined mostly due to change in the consumer price index basket and weight of the items, BBS officials said.
However, on a monthly basis, food inflation increased by 1.85 per cent in August compared to the previous month mostly because of the price hike of food and food related items. Non-food inflation also rose by 1.44 per cent mainly due to price hike of clothes, furniture and household items and miscellaneous goods and services, the BBS data showed.
BBS DG said the general point-to-point inflation rate was 8.76 per cent in August in urban areas, compared to 7.60 per cent in rural areas. The general inflation in urban areas in July was 8.85 per cent compared to 7.71 per cent in rural areas.
The food inflation in urban and rural areas increased and stood at 6.73 per cent and 7.94 per cent respectively in August.
In urban and rural areas the food inflation in July was 7.36 per cent and 5.84 per cent respectively.
The non-food inflation declined in rural areas to 9.46 per cent in August from 11.76 per cent per cent in July, while in urban areas non-food inflation fell to 9.94 per cent in August from 10.97 per cent in July.
BBS collected price data of 318 items for the rural price index basket and 422 items for the urban index basket.