Inflation fell significantly in September: Planning minister

Planning Minister MA Mannan claimed overall inflation had come down significantly in September, although the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) has not yet released any inflation data for the month of August despite two months having passed.

Mannan said despite the rise in oil prices, the price inflation has decreased in September due to the sales of several products, including rice and oil, at low prices to low-income people through one crore ration cards.

Speaking at a training programme organised by the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) on Monday, he said the inflation rate had increased considerably in the month of August, but commodity prices were reined in by September.

Assuring the release of the complete information soon, he said due to procedural reasons, it was taking some time, but would be done soon with transparency. 

Mannan also said there would be no "engineering" of the inflation data.

Inflation falls slightly in July

State Minister of Planning Shamsul Alam, who also addressed the event, underscored the need for more freedom in publishing information of the BBS. 

He said the BBS has done a good census despite various obstacles, adding that Bangladesh did not enjoy the same freedom in statistical resources as India. 

In the programme presided over by Director General of BIDS Binayak Sen, the director of the project Md Dildar Hossain presented the details of census and Post Enumeration Check (PEC), where it was informed that a third party monitoring of the census project will begin on 10 October. 

The BIDS will collect the information from midnight on October 9 from 354 sample areas of the country through tablets. This will continue till 16 October.

It was further said at the event that starting from 15 June this year and ending on 21 June, population data was to be collected from every household across the country. For this purpose, 3.80 lakh enumerators were appointed temporarily. 

The counting, however, was hampered due to heavy rains across the country and abnormal rainfall in several northern districts, including Sylhet division. Later, the census period was also extended for some districts.

Earlier, the work of the census was delayed due to various reasons including corona infection and complications in buying electronic tablets. 

Due to the obligation to conduct the census within the stipulated time frame, the census was conducted this year. Although additional money was spent on various necessities, including the purchase of umbrellas for enumerators, experts feel that there are some discrepancies in the calculation due to price hikes.

The preliminary census report released on 27 July found a population of 16.52 crore across the country. The preliminary results of the census conducted in 2011 had a population of 14.40 crore. According to this, the population has increased by 14.44% in the last 11 years.

The BIDS, a government research institute, has been given the responsibility of third party verification or PEC to verify the authenticity of this number.

In the event, it was informed that all local and foreign nationals staying in designated areas will be counted under the Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) system. 

Besides, all Bangladeshi nationals of specific areas who are temporarily staying abroad for a period of less than six months will be re-enumerated. 

After that, the latest and earlier data will be compared to identify any mistakes, before preparing the main census report. 

MA Mannan said the BBS conducts censuses and surveys with due diligence and transparency, but many people distrust them due to ignorance. 

He also said this census was done by spending people's money, advising those concerned to work with independence.

Dr Shahnaz Arefin, secretary, Statistics and Information Division, said the census was done following UN guidelines and any mistakes would be corrected through the PEC. 

The training was organised by the BIDS as part of the Post Enumeration Check (PEC) of the Bureau of Statistics' preliminary results of census and house enumeration. 

Why the delay?

The BBS collects the prices of specified products from different markets across the country between the 12th and 18th of every month. This information is processed and the inflation report is prepared within the current month.

At the beginning of the next month, the BBS publishes the report subject to the approval of various departments of the government, including the Ministry of Planning. Many times it is also presented during the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council meetings.

If, however, for any reason inflation increases, the BBS will delay the release of the report. 

A source in the Bureau of Statistics claims that the release of the report is taking extra time due to high inflation. Others said the report was not published because Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was out of the country.