DHAKA, Jan 25, 2026 (BSS) - Bangladesh's 2026 economic outlook balancespotential growth (around 5 percent) with structural challenges with inflationexpected to ease gradually, according to the Economic Update and Outlook(January) published by the General Economics Division (GED) of the PlanningCommission. General inflation rose further in December 2025 to 8.49 percent from 8.29percent in November, driven by accelerating food prices amid persistentlyhigh non-food inflation. Food inflation increased from 7.36 percent to 7.71 percent during the period,while non-food inflation remained elevated at 9.13 percent. Overall rice inflation declined from 12.26 percent in November to 11.92percent in December, with medium rice inflation easing from 10.96 percent to10.48 percent, fine rice from 15.43 percent to 14.84 percent, and coarse ricefrom 11.04 percent to 10.92 percent. While price inflation rose by 0.20 percentage points, wage inflationincreased marginally from 8.04 percent to 8.07 percent.
