Living in Dhaka as costly as Montreal: The Economist

Dhaka / DPA

Would you believe that the cost of living in Dhaka is as high as that in the Canadian city of Montreal
although the living amenities and conditions in these two cities are worlds apart?
The intelligence unit of British magazine The Economist in its
latest study on the global cost of living in 2015 ranked Dhaka city at number 71 along with Montreal. Cities like Mexico City, Cleveland, or Istanbul turned out to be cheaper than Dhaka in this study.
Toronto, Canada’s biggest city, is ranked 88, which is way cheaper than Dhaka.
The Economist studied 133 cities of the world, analysed the strength of dollar and mainly the cost of
living for expats and business
travellers.
Zambia’s capital Lusaka seems to offer the best value for money in the world. Despite rampant inflation, a devaluation of its currency, Kwacha, caused by falling copper prices has pushed the city’s cost of living down to just 41 percent of New York. Singapore ranks as the costliest city of the world.
The top 10 cheapest cities include four Indian cities. Bangalore and Mumbai are second and third cheapest cities of the world. The other two are Chennai and New Delhi. Even Karachi of Pakistan is the world’s seventh cheapest city.
New York City now features among the world’s 10 most expensive cities for the first time in 14 years. London has climbed six places to join four other European cities in the top 10.
Falling commodity prices and exchange-rate revisions have caused Olympic Games host Rio de Janeiro to drop 52 places down the ranking, while visitors to Euro 2016 matches in Paris and Lyon will see a mild improvement in prices because of a weaker Euro, stated the study.
“In Russia, the scheduled host of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, that has seen the biggest decrease over the last year, with St Petersburg and Moscow tumbling 51 and 63 places down the ranking respectively,
reflecting a 40 percent decline in living costs over the previous year,” said the study.