Rabiul Karim* and Sabina Yasmin

Affiliation: Department of Economics, Asian University of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Email: [email protected]

Abstract: The inflation rate for consumer prices in Bangladesh is increasing over time. In the past 34 years the inflation rate moved over between 2.0% and 11.4%. For 2022, an inflation rate of 7.7% was calculated. During the observation period from 2012 to 2022, the average inflation rate was 6.05% per year. Overall, the price increase was 725.52%. An item that cost 100 taka in 1987 costs 889.06 taka at the beginning of 2023. Estimates of the impact on households due to inflation in Bangladesh are given in this study by using secondary data that are collected from different institutions. The findings imply that because the poor spend a greater percentage of their income on food, the current inflation has a greater negative impact on them. The findings show that recent inflation is mostly caused by increasing food costs, and that the inflation rate experienced by the poor is larger than that of the non-poor groups. This paper emphasizes how crucial it is for the government to implement pro-poor growth and anti-inflation policies in order to lessen the negative consequences of recent inflation on the underprivileged.

Keywords: Bangladesh; Economy; Inflation; Households; Insecurity.