Bangladesh's inflation spikes 12-year high to 11.66% in July amid protests

Bangladesh's inflation in July reached a 12-year high at 11.66 per cent as it faced turmoil due to the massive student protest over a controversial job quota system, according to the country's bureau of statistics.

The inflation was 9.72 per cent in June, The Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported.

Data released by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics on Monday showed that food inflation in July registered a record high of 14.10 per cent and non-food inflation at 9.68 per cent. This was 10.42 per cent and 9.15 per cent respectively in June.

The previous high of the general inflation rate was 9.94 per cent last May, the report said.

July was marked by country-wide protests by the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement that began demanding quota system reforms in government jobs.

A crackdown by the government on dissenters further provoked the protests as agitators soon began to demand the resignation of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government.

Hasina, 76, resigned and fled to India last week and an interim government was formed headed by Chief Adviser, 84-year-old Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.

Over 230 people were killed in Bangladesh in the incidents of violence that erupted across the country following the fall of the Hasina government on August 5, taking the death toll to 560 since the anti-quota protests first started in mid-July.

July also witnessed curfews and internet shutdown for several days, disrupting supply chains and hampering the smooth operations of people and businesses. Rail and port services were also affected.

The Mastercard Economic Institute (MEI) in a recent forecast said the country is expected to experience a decline in both GDP growth and inflation in the fiscal year 2025, The Dhaka Tribune reported.

According to MEI, the country's GDP growth will drop to 5.7 per cent, while inflation, after rising to 9.8 per cent in FY24, is projected to ease to 8 per cent in FY25.