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Sri Lanka's inflation rate accelerates to Asia's fastest, shows data

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's administration announced a $1-billion relief package this month

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Central Bank of Sri Lanka

1 min read Last Updated : Jan 31 2022 | 11:58 PM IST

Sri Lanka’s inflation rate surged past Pakistan to make it the fastest in Asia, stoked by failed harvests, import restrictions to conserve dwindling foreign-exchange reserves, and high global prices of key commodities.

Consumer prices rose 14.2 per cent in January from a year earlier, faster than the median estimate of 13.2 per cent in a Bloomberg survey. The average annual inflation rate rose to 6.9 per cent.

Quickening prices pushed the central bank to raise its main interest rate for the first time in three meetings this month. The island nation’s foreign reserves were about $3.1 billion in December, with almost $7

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