Sri Lanka records high inflation in May

Sri Lanka's inflation rose to 7.3 per cent in May, up from 6.4 per cent in April, the country's Department of Census and Statistics said today.
The high inflation was driven by over 9 per cent increase in housing and utilities sector within the Colombo Consumers Price Index which the analysts put down to the government's electricity tariff hike.
The domestic tariff hike triggered island-wide protests as opposition trade unions staged a token one-day strike last week.
The tariff hike came as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) admonished the government and asked it to cut down losses of state-owned enterprises (SoEs).

Among the SoEs are the state electricity entity, Ceylon Electricity Board and the fuel entity, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation.
Against IMF opinion, the Central Bank eased its policy interest rates during the month which it said was aimed at invigorating growth.