Sri Lanka’s headline inflation climbed to a fresh record in August, rising 64.3% from a year ago, versus 60.8% a month earlier,
Data from the statistics department shows transport costs rose 148.6%, while food prices increased 93.7%.
While Sri Lanka’s consumer prices have accelerated for 11 straight months amid an unprecedented economic crisis characterized by shortage of food, fuel and medicines, central bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe expects price gains to start moderating as he sees demand contracting more-than-expected and supply conditions easing.
The monetary authority in July paused raising interest rates after delivering 950 basis points of hikes this year to tame Asia’s fastest inflation.
Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis after running out of foreign exchange reserves to finance even its most essential imports such as food, fuel, and medicine.
Unable to pay its $51 billion foreign debt, the government declared it was defaulting in April and is negotiating with the IMF for a possible bailout.
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