Staff Reporter:
A Dhaka court yesterday extended till June 30 the deadline for submitting the probe report of a case filed over some 55 kilograms of gold theft from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport’s Customs House’s godown.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Sheikh Sadi set the date afresh as the investigation officer DB Uttara Zonal team inspector Rashedul Islam failed to submit the report in time.
The gold worth about Taka 45 crore were reported stolen from the volt of the customs transit go-down at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in the capital around 11:45pm on September 2 last year.
An FIR was lodged with the Airport Thana by Mohammad Sohrab Hossain, Assistant Customs Officer of the Preventive team of the Dhaka Customs, in the early hours of September 3.
In this regard, eight people were taken to police custody for interrogation and later placed on remand on September 13.
Despite inflation slightly easing in April, rising food costs continue to impact low-income families
Dhaka, May 13 ()–In April, Bangladesh reported a marginal decline in its overall inflation rate to 9.74%, down from 9.81% in March. However, the increase in food inflation to 10.22% from 9.87% highlights a continued financial strain on household budgets, particularly for low-income families.
Ahsan H. Mansur, a former senior economist at the IMF, expressed concerns about the rising cost of essentials. “This disproportionately affects low-income families, who allocate a significant portion of their income to food. The rising cost of essentials threatens to derail our economic progress,” Mansur stated.
The government has implemented contractionary monetary policies to tackle inflation, but the effective-ness of these measures is still under observation. Mansur added that frequent policy changes by Bangla-desh Bank have also impacted the results, occasionally exacerbating inflation pressures.
He also raised questions about the accuracy of inflation data. There’s a discrepancy between the market prices of goods and the reported rate of inflation, which raises concerns about the data’s reliability, he explained.
Variations in inflation rates: A closer look
The data reveals a mixed picture across different areas. In rural areas, overall inflation increased to 9.92% in April, up from 9.68% in March. Food inflation in these areas rose slightly higher to 10.25%, compared to 9.86% in March. Non-food inflation also saw a rise, reaching 9.60% in April from 9.41% the previous month.
Conversely, urban areas experienced a slight relief in overall inflation, which decreased to 9.46% in April from 9.94% in March. While food inflation in urban areas rose to 10.19% from 9.98%, non-food inflation saw a significant reduction, dropping to 9.01% from 9.71%, according to BBS report.
