• Appointment of new Secretary to the Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka

    The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) is pleased to announce the appointment of Assistant Governor (AG) J P R Karunaratne as the Secretary to the Monetary Board (SMB) with effect from 15th September 2021.

    AG J P R Karunaratne holds a Master of Commerce Degree in Finance from the University of New South Wales, Australia and a Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Statistics and a Bachelor of Science (Physical Science) Degree from the University of Colombo. He is a Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK and an Associate Member of the Certified Management Accountants (CMA) of Sri Lanka.

  • Sri Lanka Purchasing Managers’ Index - August 2021

    Purchasing Managers' Indices for both Manufacturing and Services activities contracted in August 2021.

    The resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic in August 2021 has slowed down the manufacturing activities in the country.

    Services PMI dropped to an index value of 46.2 in August 2021 with the restrictions imposed to contain the further spread of the COVID-19.

  • Mr. Ajith Nivard Cabraal Takes Office as the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka

    Mr. Ajith Nivard Cabraal assumed duties as the 16th Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka on Wednesday, the 15th of September 2021 in Colombo. His appointment was made by His Excellency the President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Gotabaya Rajapaksa, according to the provisions of the Monetary Law Act No.58 of 1949. Accordingly, Mr. Cabraal will function as the Chairman of the Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

  • Initial statement by Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal upon taking office on the 15th September 2021

    I am extremely privileged to lead the Central Bank once again and deeply humbled by the trust and confidence reposed in me by the President, Prime Minister and Finance Minister to take up this responsibility. I also deeply appreciate the good wishes that I have received from thousands of our countrymen. 

    I will assure all of them that they will not be let down, and the economy will be steered towards continued stability.

    I also look forward to the close cooperation of the wonderful team of persons at the Central Bank as well the support from all stakeholders with whom I will have early consultations. 

  • External Sector Performance - July 2021

    The deficit in the trade account recorded an expansion on a year-on-year basis in July 2021. Earnings from export of goods increased during the month over a year earlier, but expenditure on imports increased at a faster pace, causing the trade deficit to widen for the fifth consecutive month in July 2021. Workers’ remittances declined in July, following the trend observed in June 2021, while earnings from tourism remained at minimal levels. Meanwhile, maintaining the country’s impeccable record of debt service payments, Sri Lanka successfully settled the matured 10-year International Sovereign Bond (ISB) of US dollars 1.0 billion in July 2021. Foreign investment in the government securities market recorded a marginal net inflow, while the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) continued to record net outflows during the month.

  • Margin Deposit Requirement against the Importation of Selected Non-Essential/Non-Urgent Goods made under Letters of Credit and Documents against Acceptance Terms with Licensed Commercial Banks and National Savings Bank

    The Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, at its meeting held on 08 September 2021, decided to impose a 100 per cent cash margin deposit requirement against the importation of selected goods of non-essential/non-urgent nature made under Letters of Credit and Documents against Acceptance terms with Licensed Commercial Banks and National Savings Bank, with immediate effect. The decision to impose the cash margin deposit requirement is expected to support the ongoing efforts to preserve the stability of the exchange rate and foreign currency market liquidity, particularly by discouraging excessive imports of speculative nature.

    A summary of product categories that are subjected to cash margin deposit requirements, along with information on import expenditure under each category in 2019, 2020 and thus far in 2021 (provisional), is given in the Table below.

  • Concessions Further Extended for Businesses and Individuals Affected by COVID-19

    The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) wishes to inform the public that licensed commercial banks and licensed specialised banks (licensed banks) have been requested to consider extending the concessions granted previously (until 31.08.2021) to borrowers affected by COVID-19 up to 31.12.2021, considering the new surge in the pandemic and the resultant difficulties to the borrowers. Licensed banks have also been requested to offer additional concessions to affected borrowers, at their request, in a way that the overall benefits to the borrowers are not less than those specified by CBSL.

  • Government of Sri Lanka calls for Request for Proposals for the Foreign Currency Term Financing Facility

    The links to the Request for Proposals (RFP) published on the Foreign Currency Term Financing Facility for the Government of Sri Lanka 2021, in the Ministry of Finance (MoF) website and the External Resources Department (ERD) website are as follows:

  • CCPI based Inflation increased to 6.0 per cent in August 2021

    Headline inflation, as measured by the year-on-year (Y-o-Y) change in the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI, 2013=100), increased to 6.0 per cent in August 2021 from 5.7 per cent in July 2021. This was driven by monthly increases of prices of items in both Food and Non-food categories. Subsequently, Food inflation (Y-o-Y) increased to 11.5 per cent in August 2021 from 11.0 per cent in July 2021, while Non-food inflation (Y-o-Y) increased to 3.5 per cent in August 2021 from 3.2 per cent in July 2021.

    The CCPI, measured on an annual average basis, increased marginally to 4.3 per cent in August 2021 from 4.2 per cent in July 2021.

  • Sri Lanka receives Special Drawing Rights (SDR) Allocation of International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Initial Disbursements under the Currency Swap Arrangement with the Bangladesh Bank

    During August 2021, Sri Lanka received its share of the global SDR allocation by the IMF and the initial disbursements under the bilateral currency swap arrangement between the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and the Bangladesh Bank.

    The SDR allocation received by Sri Lanka was equivalent to US dollars 787 million while a sum of US dollars 150 million was received under the swap arrangement with the Bangladesh Bank.

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