Bangladesh’s overall inflation declined to 8.32% in July, the first month of the current fiscal year, down from 9.16% in June. Inflation fell in both food and non-food categories.

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) released the latest inflation data on Tuesday.

According to BBS data, food inflation fell to 7.16% in July from 8.60% in June, marking a decline of 1.44 percentage points in a month.

Meanwhile, non-food inflation stood at 9.28% in July, compared with 9.61% in the previous month.

BBS statistics also showed that inflation remained slightly higher in rural areas than in urban areas. Overall inflation in rural areas stood at 8.36% in July, while the rate in urban areas was 8.24%.

In the budget for the current fiscal year, the government has set a target of keeping average annual inflation within 7.5%.

In his budget speech, Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury said restoring public comfort and purchasing power through sustainable economic discipline is one of the government’s key priorities.