Sri Lanka’s inflation at 4.2-pct in September 2014: Central Bank

Oct 01, 2014 (LBO) –Sri Lanka inflation continued its decelerating trend observed since June 2013 and reached 4.2 per cent in September 2014 from to 4.5 per cent in August 2014, on an annual average basis the Central bank of Sri Lanka said in a media release. The data is based on the change in the Colombo Consumers’ Price Index (CCPI) (2006/07=100), which is computed by the Department of Census and Statistics

The year-on-year (YoY) inflation remained unchanged at 3.5 per cent in September 2014, as recorded in the previous month, the bank said.

The monthly change in CCPI recorded a decline of 0.2 per cent in September, mainly due to decline of prices in the Food and Non Alcoholic Beverages category.

Within the Food category, average prices of many varieties of vegetables, dried fish, eggs, green chilies, potatoes, red onions, big onions and some varieties of fresh fish decreased compared to the previous month due to seasonal factors.

The average prices of almost all varieties of rice and some varieties of fruits increased.

Within the Non-food category, prices of items in the sub groups of Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and other Fuels, and Transport decreased due to the downward revision of fuel prices from 17 September 2014.