Sri Lanka's July consumer inflation eases to 4.6pc
Business
Food prices contract to negative 2.5 from 2.5pc in June
COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lanka’s consumer price inflation slowed to 4.6 per cent year-on-year in July from 10.8pc in June, helped by easing food prices, the statistics department said on Monday.
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The National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) captures broader retail price inflation and is released with a lag of 21 days every month.
Food prices contracted to negative 2.5pc in July from 2.5pc in June, the Department of Census and Statistics said in a statement.
Prices for non-food items also eased to 10.9pc in July from 18.3pc year-on-year in June.
Since June, Sri Lanka’s inflation has come down sharply from the runaway levels seen earlier, partly due to the statistical base effect, but also helped by a stronger rupee currency, which has lowered the costs of fuel, power and imported food.
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A $2.9-billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) secured in March has topped up foreign reserves, which had dwindled to record lows in early 2022, plunging the island into its worst financial crisis in more than seven decades.
