Public concern grows over price control in Bangladesh

Many people in Bangladesh believe that the interim government has faced challenges in managing the rising prices of essential commodities compared to the previous Awami League (AL) government, says a survey conducted by Voice of America (VoA) Bangla.

The survey, involving 1,000 participants aged 18 and above from eight divisions across the country, revealed that 44.7% of respondents believe the government has performed poorly in controlling the prices of essential commodities such as rice, fish, vegetables, eggs, meat and oil.

Among the people polled, 23.8% believe the current government is performing better than the previous one. Around one-third of the participants—30.8%—feel that the situation has remained unchanged.

A gender disparity was noted in the survey regarding opinions. While 31.3% of males felt the interim government was doing better than the previous government, only 16.3% of females shared this view.

A total of 41.2% of females believed the situation had remained the same, compared to just 20.3% of male respondents.

The survey sample was representative of Bangladesh's demographics, with equal numbers of male and female respondents. Besides, 92.7% of the participants identified as Muslim.

Over 50% of the participants were aged under 34, and nearly a quarter lived in urban areas.