Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) – The central bank of Bangladesh has started preparations to formulate the next monetary policy statement (MPS) giving top priority to curbing inflation and helping the productive sectors to achieve maximum economic growth, officials said.
As part of the preparations, Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Atiur Rahman is scheduled to meet with former finance ministers, former BB governors, senior economists, journalists, experts and bankers on July 2-3 and July 7.
“We’re now formulating the first half-yearly MPS for the July-December period of the upcoming fiscal year (FY) 2013-14 in line with the stakeholders’ opinions,” a senior official of the BB told BBN in Dhaka.
He also said the MPS might be released in mid-July.
Earlier on January 31 last, the BB unveiled the ongoing MPS aiming to attain the maximum economic growth. It also sought to ensure sufficient credit flow to the productive sectors and bring down the inflation to 7.5 per cent by the end of the FY 13.
“There is no alternative to curbing inflationary pressure on the economy if we want to achieve sustainable economic growth,” another BB official said while explaining the main objective of the new monetary policy.
The country’s inflation as measured by the Consumers’ Price Index (CPI) eased slightly in May last on the point-to-point basis mainly because of the decrease in prices of food items.
The inflation rate came down to 7.86 per cent in May last from 7.93 per cent of the previous month on the point-to-point basis, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
On the other hand, the inflation rate came down to 7.75 per cent on the annual average basis in May last from 7.85 per cent in April, the previous month.
BBN/SSR/AD-30June13-1:27 pm (BST)
