Abdullah, Shamsher & Chowdhury6. ConclusionThe current <strong><strong>in</strong>flation</strong> <strong>in</strong> Bangladesh could not be expla<strong>in</strong>ed solely on <strong>the</strong> economicnumbers <strong>and</strong> graphs as some non-economic factors (drive aga<strong>in</strong>st corruption, marketdistortions, low bus<strong>in</strong>ess confidence, political uncerta<strong>in</strong>ties, etc.) have also contributedto <strong>the</strong> price hike. So, <strong>the</strong> concerned authorities should take <strong>in</strong>to account all <strong>the</strong>se factorswhen <strong>the</strong>y formulate policies to check <strong><strong>in</strong>flation</strong>. To ma<strong>in</strong>ta<strong>in</strong> price stability, <strong>the</strong>government must work on both economic <strong>and</strong> non-economic factors that have<strong>in</strong>stigated <strong>the</strong> ongo<strong>in</strong>g <strong><strong>in</strong>flation</strong>.Go<strong>in</strong>g forward, we cannot say anyth<strong>in</strong>g about where food <strong><strong>in</strong>flation</strong> will st<strong>and</strong>. Supplyshocks may be mitigated abroad; <strong>the</strong>re may be good yields locally <strong>and</strong> abroad or badwea<strong>the</strong>r may take its toll <strong>in</strong> areas not yet affected – as with food <strong><strong>in</strong>flation</strong> <strong>in</strong> general,predictions are close to impossible. The researchers focus on <strong>the</strong> idea that, foodsecurity should be a major concern for <strong>the</strong> Bangladesh Government, <strong>and</strong> some effortsby <strong>the</strong> Central Bank <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Government <strong>in</strong> tak<strong>in</strong>g policy actions <strong>in</strong> agriculture, aimed atatta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g food sufficiency.The same, however, is not true for non-food <strong><strong>in</strong>flation</strong>. First <strong>of</strong> all, we are to see powertariff hikes proposed by <strong>the</strong> Government start<strong>in</strong>g from 2011. As per <strong>the</strong> plan, electricityprices will go up by 25% per year. Secondly, <strong>the</strong> crisis <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> middle-east has made <strong>the</strong>world shaky about crude oil prices which are ris<strong>in</strong>g rapidly. Hence, non-food <strong><strong>in</strong>flation</strong>,which has been slow, is likely to start creep<strong>in</strong>g up soon. The BDT-US$ exchange ratehas been depreciat<strong>in</strong>g steadily for some time now, reach<strong>in</strong>g a record high <strong>of</strong> BDT 72.70per USD <strong>in</strong> January 2011. This is also concern<strong>in</strong>g for <strong>the</strong> nature <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> food <strong><strong>in</strong>flation</strong>that Bangladesh are currently experienc<strong>in</strong>g. As a case <strong>study</strong>, <strong>the</strong> researchers can referto Pakistan, where <strong>in</strong> early 2008 high global food <strong>and</strong> energy prices were worsened bylarge depreciation <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Pakistani rupee, thus <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g import bills. At that time, manyAsian economies succeeded <strong>in</strong> mitigat<strong>in</strong>g such imported <strong><strong>in</strong>flation</strong> through appreciat<strong>in</strong>g<strong>the</strong>ir currencies. The po<strong>in</strong>t here is that a fur<strong>the</strong>r depreciation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> BDT could lead toadditional cost push <strong><strong>in</strong>flation</strong> for Bangladesh, as it had for Pakistan earlier. F<strong>in</strong>ally <strong>the</strong>researchers conclude that <strong>in</strong> all probabilities <strong><strong>in</strong>flation</strong> seems to be ris<strong>in</strong>g. It will dependon global food production <strong>and</strong> unrest <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Middle East.ReferencesBangladesh Economic Update 2011, Food Prices <strong>and</strong> Inflation Trajectory. BangladeshEconomic Update. Vol. 2, No. 1, January-February 2011.Erkam, S. <strong>and</strong> T. 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