Bangladesh’s overall inflation eased to 8.32% in July, the first month of the current fiscal year, down from 9.16% in June, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

The latest inflation data were released by the BBS .

Both food and non-food inflation declined during the month.

Food inflation fell to 7.16% in July from 8.60% in June, marking a decrease of 1.44 percentage points in a month.

Non-food inflation also eased, though at a slower pace, to 9.28% in July from 9.61% in June.

The BBS data showed that inflation remained slightly higher in rural areas than in urban areas. Rural inflation stood at 8.36% in July, compared with 8.24% in urban areas.

The government has set a target of keeping average annual inflation within 7.5% in the current fiscal year.

In his budget speech, Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury said establishing sustainable economic discipline, providing relief to ordinary people and restoring their purchasing power were among the government’s key priorities.