• The Central Bank of Sri Lanka Further Tightens the Monetary Policy Stance

    Considering the severity of the external shocks and continued disruptions to domestic economic activity, the Monetary Board was of the view that a comprehensive policy package containing both traditional and non-traditional measures, along with other initiatives that have an impact on the overall economy, is essential to counter such economic headwinds.

    Accordingly, after carefully considering the current and expected macroeconomic developments both globally and domestically, the Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, at its meeting held on 03 March 2022, decided to reinforce its stance adopted in January 2022, and decided to:

  • Central Bank Requests the Public to Provide Information on Unauthorized Foreign Currency Dealings

    Permission to buy, sell and exchange foreign currency in Sri Lanka is granted ONLY to authorized dealers (i.e. licensed banks) and money changers appointed by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL).

    Therefore, foreign currency, shall be purchased, sold or exchanged only through an authorized dealer or an authorized money changer.

  • SL Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) – January 2022

    Manufacturing PMI improved in January 2022 recording an index value of 58.7 with an increase of 0.6 index points compared to December 2021. This was mainly attributable to the improvements recorded in New Orders, Production together with the recovery in Employment during the month. Further, Stock of Purchases increased while Suppliers’ Delivery Time lengthened on a month-on-month basis. 

    The expansion in New Orders, Production and Stock of Purchases, particularly in the manufacture of textile & wearing apparel and food & beverage sectors, have mainly contributed to the improvement in the PMI. Although Employment sub-index recovered to positive territory in January 2022, employment sub-index with respect to the manufacture of textile & wearing apparel sector continued to decline, reflecting the difficulty in attracting employees to the sector. Meanwhile, the Stock of Purchases increased in line with the expansion in New Orders and Production.

  • Funds Raised through Direct Issuance of Sri Lanka Development Bonds

    The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) introduced various measures to encourage investments in Sri Lanka Development Bonds (SLDBs). Validating the effectiveness of the measures introduced, funds amounting to USD 111.5 million have been raised through direct issuance of SLDBs from 01st January to 15th February 2022.

    The investments in SLDBs during the above period were spread across maturities ranging from 3 months to 5 years, attracting large volume as well as small ticket eligible investors. In collaboration with certain Sri Lankan Missions, the CBSL has also made contact with eligible investors in those jurisdictions to further popularise investments in SLDBs.

  • External Sector Performance - December 2021

    The deficit in the trade account widened in December 2021 compared to a year earlier, mainly due to excessive surge in imports recording the highest ever monthly import expenditure, despite persistently high earnings from exports that exceeded US dollars 1.0 billion for the seventh consecutive month. During the year 2021, the trade deficit widened notably, driven by considerable increase in imports that outpaced the growth in exports. Tourist arrivals continued the growth momentum in December with a notable increase over the previous month. Meanwhile, workers’ remittances recorded a month-on-month growth in December 2021, mainly reflecting the response to incentive scheme introduced for remittances and the seasonal increase. The weighted average spot exchange rate in the interbank market continued to hover around Rs. 201 per US dollar during the month.

  • Reiteration of Sri Lanka’s Commitment to Service Forthcoming Debt Obligations

    The attention of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has been drawn to certain recent media reports which have claimed that Sri Lanka is at the verge of a sovereign default. The CBSL wishes to state that such claims are totally unsubstantiated and also regrets that these reports carry many obviously factual inaccuracies despite the availability of credible official data published by the CBSL according to international standards. Therefore, the CBSL wishes to assure the local and international investor community and the public that the Government and the CBSL are committed to honour all forthcoming debt obligations and thereby maintain Sri Lanka’s unblemished record of debt servicing. 

  • Central Bank of Sri Lanka Launches the 'National Remittance Mobile Application'

    The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) is currently taking steps to increase the inflows of foreign remittances to Sri Lanka as well as encourage the use of formal remittance channels when sending remittances to the country. Accordingly, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka initiated a National Remittance Mobile Application branded as “Lanka Remit”. It has been introduced and developed by LankaClear (Pvt) Ltd.

    The National Remittance Mobile Application “Lanka Remit” was launched on 8th February by the Hon. Minister Namal Rajapaksa, Minister of Youth and Sports, Minister of Development Coordination and Monitoring and State Minister of Digital Technology and Enterprise Development of Sri Lanka.

  • Inflation in January 2022 - CCPI

    Headline inflation, as measured by the year-on-year (Y-o-Y) change in the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI, 2013=100), increased to 14.2 per cent in January 2022 from 12.1 per cent in December 2021. Meanwhile, on an annual average basis, the CCPI increased to 6.9 per cent in January 2022 from 6.0 per cent in December 2021.

    Inflation was driven by monthly increases of prices of items in both Food and Non-food categories. Subsequently, Food inflation (Y-o-Y) increased to 25.0 per cent in January 2022 from 22.1 per cent in December 2021, while Non-food inflation (Y-o-Y) increased to 9.2 per cent in January 2022 from 7.5 per cent in December 2021.

  • Masterplan for Consolidation of Non-Bank Financial Institutions being fast-tracked

    Under the Masterplan for Consolidation of Non-Bank Financial Institutions (the Masterplan) being implemented by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), the following 9 companies have already introduced fresh capital of Rs 12.56 billion to meet regulatory capital requirements: Sarvodaya Development Finance PLC, Dialog Finance PLC, Asia Asset Finance PLC, Lanka Credit and Business Finance PLC, People’s Merchant Finance PLC, Softlogic Finance PLC, Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka & Finance PLC, UB Finance Co Ltd and Richard Pieris Finance Ltd.

  • External Sector Performance - November 2021

    Earnings from exports in November 2021 recorded the highest monthly export value in the history, while marking the sixth consecutive month of above US dollars 1.0 billion of exports. Meanwhile, import expenditure also increased at a higher rate in November 2021. Reflecting the favourable impact of increased exports, the merchandise trade deficit narrowed to US dollars 553 million in November 2021 compared to US dollars 600 million in November 2020. Tourist arrivals continued to gather momentum with a notable increase over the previous month, showing strong signs of revival. A further moderation of workers’ remittances was observed in November 2021. The weighted average spot exchange rate in the interbank market continued to hover around Rs. 202 per US dollar during the month.

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