Dhaka, April 26 -- The government has begun borrowing from banks by printing money even though inflation remains above 8 percent, says Ashikur Rahman, chief economist at the Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh (PRI), a private research institute.

"The government has started printing new money. In March alone, the government took a loan of Tk 200 billion from Bangladesh Bank. This is high-power money, printed money. That is, inflation may increase due to its impact," he said at a press briefing organised by the Australian government's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and PRI at the PRI office in Banani on Thursday.

In his keynote address at the seminar titled "Evolving Global Landscape for Trade and Growth," he said: "G...