DHAKA: Finance Minister AMA Muhith expressed hope that the general inflation in the country will be around 7 percent by June 2014 and would reduce further at the end of the fiscal year 2014-15.

With a target of attaining a higher GDP growth of 7.3 percent in the fiscal year, Finance Minister AMA Muhith placed the budget for fiscal year 2014-15 in the Parliament on Thursday.

Setting a tax revenue target Tk 182,954 crore, the minister proposed a Tk 250,506 crore annual budget outlays.

In his speech, the minister said, “At the end of June in the last fiscal year (2012-13), point to point inflation was 8 percent that came down to 7.4 percent at the end of April in the current fiscal year (2013-14).”

Muhith also said, “During this time, non-food inflation declined to 5.2 percent. But food inflation sneaked up as there was disruption in supply due to continued strikes and blockades at the beginning of this fiscal year.”

“However, I hope that the declining trend in food price in the neighboring as well as other countries will pull down the price of food grains in the coming days,” Muhith added.

Finance Minister also said, “Factoring in the declining trend in food and energy price in the international markets along with satisfactory domestic agricultural production and supportive monetary policy, I believe that the general inflation in Bangladesh will be hovering around 7.0 percent by June 2014 and will reduce further at the end of the next fiscal year.”

BDST: 1807 HRS, JUN 05, 2014