National inflation accelerates to 3.4% in July

Sri Lanka’s countrywide inflation measured by National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) increased to 3.4 percent in July from 2.5 percent in June on year-on-year basis, the Department of Census and Statistics said yesterday.

The acceleration was driven by low that prevailed in the previous year as well as the monthly increase in the prices of items in the non-food category.

The change in the NCPI measured on an annual average basis decreased from 5.3 percent in June to 5.1 percent in July.

When monthly change is considered, the NCPI increased marginally from 126.5 index points in June 2018 to 126.6 index points in July largely due to the increase in prices of the items in the non-food category, particularly that of petrol and diesel in the transport sub-category as well as of some items in the miscellaneous goods and services sub-category. 

Meanwhile, prices of the items in the food category declined during the month where prominent price declines were observed in coconuts, rice and limes.
The NCPI core inflation, which reflects the underlying inflation in the economy, increased to 2.3 percent in July from 1.8 percent in June 2018 on YoY basis. 
Meanwhile, annual average NCPI core inflation declined to 2.7 percent in July from 2.9 percent in June.