Sri Lanka inflation races to 8.6-pct in March 2011

Mar 31, 2011 (LBO) - Consumer prices in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo shot up 8.





6 percent in March 2011 from a year ago, the highest since January 2009, and up from 7.8 percent in February, the government's statistics office said.





However, according to the month-to-month change, prices fell 0.3 percent in March with the Colombo Consumers' Price Index down to 233.





2 from 233.9 in February 2011, breaking a trend that had been increasing since July 2010.

The annual average inflation was 6.2 percent in March 2011.

Authorities have blamed the rise in prices on 'supply shocks' related to recent floods that disrupted food production, saying they expect inflation to fall in the second half of the year as supplies get back to normal.