Sri Lanka’s country-wide inflation measured by the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) rose 8.3 per cent in the 12-months to October, which is the highest to be recorded since 2017.
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) said the four-year high was reported after record money printing to maintain low-interest rates.
Issuing a statement, the bank further said headline inflation, as measured by the year-on-year (Y-o-Y) change in the NCPI, increased to 8.3 per cent in October 2021 from 6.2 per cent in September 2021.
The CBSL said this was driven by monthly increases in prices of items in both Food and Non-food categories.
Meanwhile, Food inflation (Y-o-Y) increased to 11.7 per cent in October 2021 from 10.0 per cent in September 2021, while Non-Food inflation (Y-o-Y) also increased to 5.4 per cent in October 2021 from 3.0 per cent in September 2021.
The CBSL further said the NCPI, measured on an annual average basis, increased to 5.7 per cent in October 2021 from 5.5 per cent in September 2021.
Monthly change of NCPI was recorded at 2.12 per cent in October 2021 due to increases observed in prices of items in both Food and Non-food categories which were 0.89 per cent and 1.23 per cent, respectively.
The bank said, accordingly, within the Food category, prices of milk powder and rice increased.
Further, prices of items in the Non-Food category recorded increases mainly due to price increases observed in Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels (L.P. Gas and Materials for the maintenance), Restaurant and Hotels, Miscellaneous Goods and Services and Health sub-categories during the month.
The Central Bank added that year-on-year core inflation increased to 7.2 per cent in October 2021 from 4.8 per cent in September 2021.
It said that, however, annual average core inflation which remained unchanged for six consecutive months increased to 4.6 per cent in October 2021 from 4.4 per cent in September 2021. (NewsWire)