Sri Lanka Inflation Dips To Lowest Point Since Crisis
Date
8/30/2024 9:24:27 AM
(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
AFP
Colombo: Crisis-hit Sri Lanka's annual inflation dipped sharply to 0.5 percent in August, the lowest year-on-year rate since the country declared bankruptcy in April 2022, official data showed Friday.
August inflation was down from 2.4 percent in July and 4.0 percent the same time last year.
The reading came three weeks ahead of Sri Lanka's first election since the unprecedented economic crisis that sparked months of food, fuel and Pharmaceutical shortages.
The resulting civil unrest forced then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to briefly flee the country and resign from abroad.
At the time, inflation peaked at nearly 70 percent.
The Census and Statistics Department said the current decline was attributable to reductions in electricity and water tariffs, fuel prices and housing costs.
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka expects overall inflation in 2024 to remain well below five percent.
Opposition parties have vowed to renegotiate the terms of an IMF bailout secured by President Ranil Wickremesinghe in early 2023 in the wake of the crisis.
The bailout has led to painful austerity measures, including higher taxes.
The IMF has said it is willing to listen to alternative proposals from rival political parties, but stressed that the benchmarks set in the agreement must be met.
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