The average inflation rate during the first quarter (July-Sept) of the current fiscal stands at 7.5 percent, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said in Parliament on Wednesday.

Placing a report in the House on the macroeconomic trend of the country in the first quarter of the current fiscal, he said that the government has taken steps to restrict additional money flow in the non-productive sector to keep the inflation rate in check. "An important pledge of the present government was to control the inflation," Muhith said, mentioning that the inflation rate of the last fiscal was 7.3 percent. He said that the process is on to control the inflation by OMS and uninterrupted supply and distribution of essential items.

In this connection, he said that money circulation increased 22.9 percent during the fiscal. "But the government is keeping its eyes on the money circulation so that the inflation could not rise further."

The Finance Minister said that the present government has fixed GDP growth at 6.7 percent for the current fiscal. In this context, the government has taken numerous steps for enhancement of investment, both public and private, infrastructure development for power, energy, communication and port, human resource development, expansion of social safety net, and social infrastructure development.

He said that the budget deficit during the first quarter of the current fiscal was Tk 2,938 crore, which is a little bit higher compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. He said the export earnings during the first three months of the running fiscal increased around 30 percent compared to the same period of the last fiscal year.

The Finance Minister also mentioned that the import expenditure increased 37 percent in the first quarter, which indicated that the economic activities in the country are vibrant.

Sourche: The Bangladesh Today, Bangladesh/9th Dec 2010