DHAKA: Bangladesh's annual inflation accelerated to 7.04 percent in July from 6.97 percent a month ago, government data showed on Tuesday, as Ramadan festivities boosted spending on items from clothing to furniture.
Food inflation edged down to 7.94 percent from 8 percent in June, but non-food inflation quickened to 5.71 percent from 5.45 percent, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics said.
"People spend more money to buy non-food items to celebrate the Eid festival, while traders and businessmen increase prices to capitalise on it," said a senior bureau official, who asked not to be identified as he is not authorised to speak to the media.
Annual inflation in Bangladesh accelerated to 7.35 percent in the fiscal year ending in June, from 6.78 percent the previous year, exceeding a target of 7 percent on food prices.
Food prices went up in the last financial year as supplies of basic foodstuffs were boosted by frequent transport blockades and other unrest in the run-up to elections in January.
The government aims to hold inflation below 7 percent in the current fiscal year. The central bank has kept its key policy rates unchanged since February last year, when it cut rates by half a percentage point on a slower economic growth outlook.
In June, however, the central bank raised banks' reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points, its first increase since 2010, in a move to mop up excess cash to cool inflationary pressures.
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