BB decides to hike policy rate by 50 basis points to 9%

Bangladesh Bank (BB) has taken a decision to hike the policy rate by 50 basis points to 9 percent to bring down the runaway inflation.

The central bank today took the decision to raise the policy rate at a meeting of the monetary policy committee, a BB senior official confirmed BSS, reports BSS.

He also informed that the decision will be implemented from the next working day.

Over three months ago, the policy rate was last increased by 50 basis points to 8.5 percent on May 8.

That time the rate was hiked in line with the prescription of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as there was no sign of easing in inflation, which stayed over 9 percent since March last year.

After the 12-month average inflation stood at 9.73 percent in 2023-24 fiscal year, consumer prices grew 11.66 percent in July, the highest at least since 2010-11 fiscal year, reflecting the worsening situation of the purchasing capacity of people, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).