Inflation increased to 9.89 percent in May driven by higher food prices, figures from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics showed today.
It was 9.74 percent in April.
Food inflation surged 54 basis points to 10.76 percent from 10.22 percent while non-food inflation slipped 15 basis points to 9.19 percent from 9.34 percent.
In 2022-23, the average inflation rate was 9.02 percent, far higher than the average of 6 percent in recent years.
Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA) has proposed an alternative budget estimated at around Tk 12 trillion for the next fiscal year 2024-25.
The proposed alternative budget is 1.57 times higher than the government budget in the running FY.
The BEA unveiled the proposal on Monday at a press conference titled Alternative Budget Proposal 2024-25: Improved Bangladesh Oriented Budget held at its office in the city Eskaton Garden area.
Under the chairmanship of Kazi Khalikuzzaman Ahmad, the general secretary of the Economics Association Ainul Islam presented the alternative budget.
A dilapidated old public bus was seen struggling to ascend Moghbazar-Mouchak flyover in the city recently and finally managed to stabilise after emitting a thick layer of black smoke, making the surrounding air suffocating.
Before then, the bus exhaust caused irritation to passengers of other vehicles, and exposed serious health hazards due to inhaling such polluted air.
Air quality specialist Prof Ahmad Kamruzzaman Majumder told The Shuttle Times that the unfit buses emit harmful smoke while ascending to the flyovers and elevated expressways or roads as the old engines do not have the capacity to run properly.
State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Md Mohibbur Rahman on Sunday said the losses caused by Cyclone Remal was estimated at 6,880 crore by his ministry.
The state minister said this after an inter-ministerial meeting held at the secretariat on the overall issue of the cyclone.
Another inter-ministerial meeting will be held on June 9 to assess the overall damages caused by the cyclone, he said.
“We will finalise the list of losses of all ministries by holding another inter-ministerial meeting on June 9. It will then be handed over to the prime minister,” he said.