AN UNPRECEDENTED inflation, both food and non-food, has  affected people’s purchasing power and influenced the overall economic climate of the Eid market. Eid-ul-Fitr is typically the largest economic stimulus as sales this time increase dramatically in almost all retail areas. With soaring goods prices and recurring increase in utility tariffs, people barely make their ends meet. In this situation, buying Eid gifts is a luxury that most people cannot afford. The Bureau of Statistics says that headline inflation increased to 9.33 per cent in March from 8.78 per cent in February. Independent research and economists, however, say that the national statistical office has grossly underestimated the actual food inflation. The Centre for Policy Dialogue has recently said that the average food inflation is more than 25 per cent and non-food inflation is much higher. The South Asian Network on Economic Modelling also reports a higher inflation rate. In this context, traders, especially small-time traders, are worried that low Eid sales would impact their annual business and earnings.

Eid-time shoppers complain of unaffordable prices of clothing and other conventional gift items. Traders do not deny the reality but say that higher dollar prices, letters of credit problems and high import duty on apparel products have caused the price increase. In July 2022, the weakening taka and a dollar shortage prompted the Bangladesh Bank to take up to 100 per cent of import payments in advance in opening letters of credit for luxury and non-essential items. Experts blame the government for its flawed development policy that has fuelled an extremely uneven economic growth. In the past, the ultra-rich population grew faster in Bangladesh than any other countries. The number of bank accounts with more than Tk 10 million in deposit in Bangladesh soared by 4,860 to 1.08 lakh as of June 2022 from 1.03 lakh as of March 2022 as the rich continued to grow richer amidst increasing economic woes straining the poor and limited-income people. The Bangladesh Poverty Watch Report 2022 says that 35 million people live below the poverty line. Experts are, therefore, not wrong when they say that the government’s economic policy has improved the purchasing capacity of a small section of people and has created the scope for unequal wealth accumulation.

Income inequality makes it evident that the government is singularly focused on improving the per capita income and its much-celebrated high economic growth is a fragmented projection of development. In order to ensure an equitable distribution of wealth, it must develop an inclusive development plan by creating an investment-friendly political environment for a stable job market growth by improving the governance structure. The government must make the much-needed policy shift knowing that socio-economic inequality eventually slows down macro-economic growth and affects the larger political environment.