Sri Lanka’s inflation eases in February- Central Bank says

The Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI)- based headline inflation (year-on-year, Y-o-Y) eased in February 2026.

Accordingly, headline inflation (Y-o-Y) was recorded at 1.6 per cent in February 2026 compared to 2.3 per cent in January 2026, the Central Bank said in a statement.

Food inflation (Y-o-Y) decelerated to 0.2 per cent in February 2026 from 3.3 per cent in January 2026, while Non-Food inflation (Y-o-Y) accelerated to 2.3 per cent in February 2026 from 1.8 per cent in January 2026.

On a month-on-month basis, the CCPI recorded a decrease of 0.85 per cent in February 2026. The decrease was mainly driven by the Food category, which contributed -0.86 percentage points, largely owing to the reduction in prices of vegetables and green chillies, while the Non-Food category contributed 0.01 percentage points.

Meanwhile, core inflation (Y-o-Y), which reflects the underlying inflation trends in the economy, decelerated to 2.1 per cent in February 2026 from 2.3 per cent in January 2026.

Inflation projections made at the monetary policy round in January 2026 indicate that inflation will gradually move towards the target of 5 per cent by the second half of 2026, with the support of appropriate policies, the Bank said.