Sri Lanka’s inflation at nearly 40 per cent last month

Headline inflation, as measured by the year-on-year (Y-o-Y) change in the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI, 2013=100)1 increased to 39.1 per cent in May 2022 from 29.8 per cent in April 2022.

This increase in Y-o-Y inflation was driven by the monthly increases of both Food and Non-Food categories, the Central Bank said in a statement.

Subsequently, Food inflation (Y-o-Y) increased to 57.4 per cent in May 2022 from 46.6 per cent in April 2022, while Non-Food inflation (Y-o-Y) increased to 30.6 per cent in May 2022 from 22.0 per cent in April 2022.

The monthly change of the CCPI was recorded at 8.34 per cent in May 2022 due to price increases observed in items of both Non-Food and Food categories which were 4.87 per cent and 3.47 per cent, respectively. Accordingly, prices of items in the Non-Food category recorded increases mainly due to price increases observed in the Transport (Petrol, diesel and bus fare), Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuel (LP gas and Materials for maintenance/reconstruction), Restaurant and Hotels and Miscellaneous Goods and Services (Car insurance) sub-categories.

Further, within the Food category, increases were observed in prices of vegetables, fresh fish, rice, bread, dried fish and dhal during the month. Meanwhile, annual average inflation rose to 14.2 per cent in May 2022 from 11.3 per cent in April 2022.

The core inflation (Y-o-Y), which reflects the underlying inflation in the economy increased to 28.4 per cent in May 2022 from 22.0 per cent in April 2022, while annual average core inflation increased to 10.2 per cent in May 2022 from 8.1 per cent in April 2022.