BM Desk

The state minister for planning, Shamsul Islam, commented that the rate of inflation in the country could be 13 to 14 percent. He said that due to various measures taken by the government, it has been possible to keep inflation in single digits.

He made this comment in response to journalists’ questions about price inflation at a press conference. He highlighted various steps taken by the government to control inflation and said that the government has reduced taxes on various types of imported goods. Farmers are being subsidized to maintain supplies. The policy rate for borrowing from banks has been increased twice. As a strategy to control inflation, the government reduced borrowing from Bangladesh Bank, and the cap on interest rates on bank loans was lifted.

However, Shamsul Islam thinks that the interest rate can be increased further. He said that the Prime Minister’s adviser has also indicated an increase in the interest rate on bank loans.

Moreover, supply has also been disrupted due to untimely heavy rains in recent times. The country is now in a cycle of inflation. But Shamsul Islam expressed hope that the inflation rate would decrease in November.

When asked about Sri Lanka’s inflation control, the state minister said they had increased the policy rate by 10 percent. But their growth has now gone negative. We can’t do that because of our big policy differences with them.