Debt-ridden Sri Lanka aspires to reduce inflation below 10 %

Sri Lanka’s inflation rate fell to 12%؜ in June, to its lowest since the country plunged into an unprecedented economic crisis last year.

Sri Lanka defaulted on its foreign debt of 46 billion dollars in April 2022, and citizens suffered for months from shortages of food, fuel and medicines.

The crisis eased after the government signed a USD 2.9 billion bailout with the International Monetary Fund in March.
According to what the data showed yesterday, the inflation rate in June is the lowest since that recorded in November 2021 of 9.9 percent, according to the “AFP”.

It decreased compared to May, which recorded 25.2 percent, and to the peak recorded in September of 69.8 percent.
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka said that “inflation is expected to reach rates below 10 percent by the beginning of the third quarter of 2023”.

The government this week unveiled a debt restructuring plan that includes a cut on dollar-denominated bonds, including international bonds, which account for more than a quarter of Sri Lanka’s total external debt.

The International Monetary Fund said last month that Sri Lanka’s economy was showing “tentative signs of improvement,” but warned that Colombo still needed to implement painful reforms.