Finance, commerce and science and technology adviser Salehuddin Ahmed on Monday said that release of printing money worth around Tk 60,000 crore by the ousted government was the major bar to bringing down the runaway inflation.
It would take some time to reverse the inflationary trend, said the finance adviser while talking to reporters after a courtesy meeting with UNDP resident representative Stefan Liller at the Secretariat.
The overall inflation in August eased, but still prevailed at a double-digit level for the second consecutive month.
The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics recorded overall inflation at 10.49 per cent in the past month, down from 11.66 per cent in July.
The double-digit inflation in July and August puts the average inflation in the current financial year (July 2024鈥揓une 2025) at 11.07 per cent which is almost close to the average inflation of 11.15 per cent recorded in 2010鈥�11.
The finance adviser said that while there were many reasons for the current high inflation, the money printing spree by the Bangladesh Bank in the past two years was the main one to be blamed.聽聽聽聽
He also said that the interim government already took measures to maintain the supply chain of essentials to release the mounting pressure on the consumers.
Answering a question over new extortionists replacing the old ones, the finance adviser said that no vacuum remains for long.
He said both time and cooperation would be needed to tackle the new extortionists.
Noting that the required cooperation in this regard had to be in the political sphere, he said that decision to curb extortion was not linked with economy and commerce.