CB says a big drop in inflation this month

Headline inflation for March 2024, measured by the year-on-year (Y-o-Y) change in the Colombo Consumer Price Index, has dropped sharply to 0.9 percent in March 2024 from 5.9 percent in February 2024, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) says.

This deceleration in the headline inflation was broadly in line with the projections of the CBSL, it said in a media statement.Non-Food Category recorded a deflation of 0.5 percent in March 2024 compared to the inflation of 7.0 percent observed in February 2024.

Nevertheless, food inflation accelerated to 3.8 percent in March 2024 from 3.5 percent in February 2024, the CBSL said.

Meanwhile, core inflation (Y-o-Y), which reflects the underlying inflation trends in the economy, accelerated to 3.1 percent in March 2024 from 2.8 percent in February 2024.

In spite of intermittent variations, inflation is expected to converge to the targeted level in the period ahead and remain around the target over the medium term, supported by appropriate policy measures, the CBSL said.