Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today reiterated her call to the countrymen to focus more on savings and show austerity in all stages amid the wake of the ongoing global economic crisis.

"People of the country need to be motivated so we can tackle the present economic recession facing us the way we did during the global coronavirus pandemic," the premier said while speaking at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) in capital's NEC Conference Room on Tuesday (11 October).

"Our strength is our people. As long as people are with us, there should be no worries," she added.

Sheikh Hasina also directed relevant authorities to not approve any unessential development projects at the time. 

Mentioning the ongoing power crisis amid ongoing inflation and fuel shortage, the prime minister urged countrymen to become more frugal in using electricity.

Bangladesh's inflation escalated to 9.5% in August, according to State Minister for Planning Shamsul Alam, thanks to rising commodity prices and record hike in fuel prices.

"Though the price gain spiralled in August, it declined to 9.1% in September," he told The Business Standard on 5 October.

The annual point-to-point inflation in July was 7.48%. As such, inflation increased by 2.02 percentage points in August.