Consumer prices accelerate to 6% in August

REUTERS: Sri Lanka’s consumer inflation rose 6.0 percent in August from a year earlier, up from the previous month’s 4.8 percent gain, under a revised base-year and market basket, data from the Department of Census and Statistics showed.

Core annual inflation, which excludes fresh food, energy, transport, rice and coconuts, rose 6.0 percent in August compared with the previous month’s 4.9 percent gain, the index with a new base year of 2013 showed.

On a month-on-month basis, the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) fell 0.5 percent in August, compared with July’s 0.6 percent fall. 

Inflation in August, as measured on a 12-month moving average basis, rose to a record high of 5.5 percent compared with the previous month’s 5.4 percent.