Dhaka, Aug. 23 -- Across South Asia, inflationary pressures have eased as global commodity prices return to pre-war levels. Sri Lanka, despite its recent bankruptcy, now records deflation. Pakistan has pulled back from inflation rates above 35 per cent to just 4 per cent.
In India and Nepal, inflation is close to 1.5 and 2.7 per cent, respectively. Bangladesh, however, remains an outlier: inflation in July was still above 8.5 per cent, leaving households under pressure.
The divergence is difficult to ignore. Thailand's benchmark export price for rice has fallen by nearly 40 per cent in a year. Yet in Dhaka, coarse rice is more expensive today than at the height of the Ukraine war.
Crude soybean oil has fallen by 44 per cent international...