The Government of Sri Lanka has opened the following bank accounts at Sampath Bank PLC to facilitate collection of donations from both Sri Lankans and foreign philanthropists to provide relief to victims of floods and landslides which occurred in May 2016.
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Opening of Bank Accounts for the Disaster Relief Fund of the Government of Sri Lanka
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Inflation in April 2016
Inflation, as measured by the change in the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) (2013=100), which is compiled by the Department of Census and Statistics, increased to 4.3 per cent in April 2016 from 2.2 per cent in March 2016, on year-on-year basis. Food and Non Alcoholic Beverages; Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco; Clothing and Footwear; Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance; Heath; Transport; Recreation and Culture; Education; Restaurants and Hotels and Miscellaneous Goods and Services sub categories contributed towards the year-on-year inflation in April.
The change in the NCPI measured on an annual average basis increased to 2.6 per cent in April 2016 from 2.4 per cent recorded in March 2016.
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Release of 'Sri Lanka Socio-Economic Data - 2018' Publication
'Sri Lanka Socio-Economic Data – 2018', the annually published data folder of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, is now available for public information. The current data folder is the 41st volume of the series.This easy- to- carry data folder contains information categorized under 14 topics, namely, Country Profile; Key Economic Indicators; Country Comparisons; Socio Economic Conditions; Human Resources; National Accounts; Agriculture; Industry; Economic and Social Infrastructure; Prices and Wages; External Trade and Tourism; External Finance; Government Finance; and Money Banking and Finance.
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Inflation in August 2018
Headline Inflation, as measured by the change in the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI, 2013=100), which is compiled by the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS), decreased to 2.5 per cent in August 2018 from 3.4 per cent in July 2018, on year-on-year basis, mainly driven by monthly decline in Food prices in August 2018. The change in the NCPI measured on an annual average basis decreased from 5.1 per cent in July 2018 to 4.7 per cent in August 2018.
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Date of Announcement of the Monetary Policy Review - No. 6 of 2018
The Monetary Policy Review – No. 6 of 2018, which was previously scheduled to be issued on Friday, 28 September 2018 as announced in the Road Map - Monetary and Financial Sector Policies for 2018 and Beyond, has been rescheduled to Tuesday, 02 October 2018 at 7.30 a.m.
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Margin Deposit Requirement against Letters of Credit (LCs) opened with Commercial Banks for the Importation of Vehicles
The Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka imposed a 100 per cent margin deposit requirement against Letters of Credit opened with the commercial banks for the import of motor vehicles,which are generally used for non-commercial purposes,with immediateeffect.Accordingly, Letters of Credit for the importation of these vehicle categories could be done only with a minimum cash margin of 100 per cent.
The decision to impose the margin deposit requirement is based on recent developments which, if not addressed, could threaten macroeconomic stability. These include the following:
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The Central Bank of Sri Lanka meets the People of Rajarata and Wayamba
An Open Day programme aimed at providing easy access to Central Bank services for school children and people of the Rajarata and Wayamba regions, and creating awareness about Central Bank activities is to be held on 21st and 22nd September 2018 at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Anuradhapura Regional Office premises and the Public Grounds (Salgado) Anuradhapura.
The programme will be held from 9.00am to 7.00pm and the public will get the opportunity of resolving EPF related issues and obtaining information about small and medium enterprise credit schemes and related services. A currency exchange facility to exchange damaged notes and obtain coins will also take place.
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Clarification on the Erroneous Report regarding Sri Lanka issued by Nomura Holdings Inc.
Several international media sites have recently quoted an analysis by Nomura Holdings Inc., which shows that seven emerging economies including Sri Lanka are at risk of an exchange rate crisis.
The said media sites further quoted the report as saying Sri Lanka’s short term external debt is as high as US dollars 160 billion. As Sri Lanka’s short term external debt is nowhere near this figure, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka requested Nomura to correct the errors in their computations.1
In response, according to Bloomberg, Nomura has “corrected their ‘Damocles’ report to fix Sri Lanka’s short term debt figure to be US dollars 7.5 billion” in an emailed statement to media. Nomura has, however, kept the ‘Damocles score’ for Sri Lanka unchanged.
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Sri Lanka Purchasing Managers’ Index - August 2018
The Manufacturing Sector PMI Increased to 58.2 index points in August 2018 from 57.2 index points observed in the previous month. The expansion observed in manufacturing activities in August was mainly driven by expansion in production led by the increase in new orders, especially in manufacturing of textiles, wearing apparel, leather and other related products. Further, employment also increased at a higher rate with the recruitment of employees especially for food and beverages sector led by the positive outlook for improving activities within this sector. However, stock of purchases show some slowdown, especially in manufacturing of other non-metallic mineral products. Nevertheless, stock of purchases in the manufacturing of textiles, wearing apparel, leather and other related products increased.
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Statement of the Monetary Board on Treasury Bond Auctions
This refers to the recent articles and discussions relating to the Treasury bond auctions that took place during the latter part of March 2016, where allegations of lack of transparency were made with regard to the process that was followed. Attention of the public is drawn to the fact that the process followed was similar to what has been in practice since February 2015 when a complete market based mechanism was introduced in auctioning of Treasury bills and bonds.
The Monetary Board noted the large resource needs of the Government. Further, in the context of Monetary Policy actions, mainly the upward adjustment of the Statutory Reserve Requirement (SRR) at the beginning of the year and the subsequent upward adjustment of the policy interest rates, had resulted in an increase in yield for Treasury bills and Treasury bonds.