They say, Bangladesh consists of villages. But the rural economy over the last few years has been shattered. Due to extreme profits of middlemen, people who normally have good political links, agriculture has become a loss venture as both peasants and consumers are suffering.

Peasants are selling goods for such low prices that they often cannot match even the production cost. On the other hand, the final consumers are buying the same products with manifold prices, paying the toll of middlemen syndicates. The regime directly gets benefitted from these syndicates.

The rural economy is now based mainly on remittance as millions of young people of the country stay abroad to earn money through back-breaking hard work. But now inflation is devouring hard earned money rapidly.

Data from the central bank showed that in the last quarter of 2023 banks saw a sharp decline of the deposits in the rural areas, the first fall in five years.

Deposits in the countryside slumped 21 per cent year-on-­year to Tk 266,415 crore in October-December though overall savings grew nationally on the back of higher inflows of funds to the banking system in cities and towns.

"Even though they have the same disposable income, people have been forced to dip into their savings because of higher inflation in order to get by,” a senior banker told a local daily.

Since March 2023, consumer prices in Bangladesh have persisted by over 9 per cent. Inflation was also at a higher level in the previous year and experts think lingering higher inflation could be one reason behind the declining savings in rural areas.

This is an ominous sign for the economy. Rural areas have lost the self-sufficiency in food largely and shotting the price index will further put them into jeopardy.

The Boxer: The author is one of the indefatigable working-class Bangladeshis who have been trying to change the fate of the nation but were betrayed by the ruling elites and autocrats. The name is inspired by a character in George Orwell's 1945 novel Animal Farm.