The Monetary Policy Board decided to keep the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) at 8.00% at its meeting held yesterday. The Board arrived at this decision after carefully considering the developments both domestically and globally. The Board remains confident that the prevailing monetary policy stance will ensure that inflation will move towards the target of 5% while supporting the growth of the domestic economy.
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The Central Bank of Sri Lanka keeps the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) unchanged
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Notice to General Public on Prohibited Pyramid Schemes
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has determined Pro Care (Pvt) Ltd., Shade of Procare (Pvt) Ltd have engaged in a scheme prohibited under Section 83 (C) of the Banking Act, No. 30 of 1988, as amended.
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Shaping the future through Digital Transactions: Central Bank of Sri Lanka Promotes Digital Payments in the Nuwara Eliya District
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) will be conducting its next Digital Payments Promotion Campaign for 2025 on 22nd and 23rd March 2025 in Nuwara Eliya, with the participation of the Governor of CBSL, Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe.
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SL Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) – February 2025
Purchasing Managers’ Indices indicate expansions in both Manufacturing and Services activities in February 2025.
Sri Lanka Purchasing Managers’ Index for Manufacturing (PMI – Manufacturing) recorded an index value of 56.8 in February 2025, indicating a continued expansion in manufacturing activities. This expansion is attributable to the positive contributions from all sub-indices.
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Beware of Fraudulent AI-generated videos Misusing the CBSL Governor’s Image
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) strongly warns the public about fraudulent AI-generated videos misusing the CBSL Governor’s Image currently circulating on social media, particularly Facebook. These deceptive videos falsely portray the CBSL Governor as endorsing investment schemes that promise extraordinary financial returns. They also direct viewers to a suspicious external link, likely aimed at defrauding unsuspecting individuals.
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The Sri Lankan foreign exchange market unveils a foreign exchange matching platform
The Sri Lankan foreign exchange (FX) market has successfully implemented an FX matching platform, as per the initiative taken by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) to foster a deeper FX market. This platform, which is accessible to all Licensed Commercial Banks, National Savings Bank, and the CBSL, was introduced to enhance price discovery, and to promote greater transparency and efficiency in the domestic FX market. Accordingly, BMatch FX matching platform (BMatch) of Bloomberg was chosen by the domestic FX market for this purpose.
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IMF Executive Board Completes the Third Review Under the Extended Fund Facility Arrangement with Sri Lanka
The IMF Executive Board completed the Third Review under the 48-month Extended Fund Facility with Sri Lanka, providing the country with immediate access to SDR 254 million (about US $334 million) to support Sri Lanka’s economic policies and reforms. This is the fourth tranche Sri Lanka receives under the IMF-EFF and the total IMF financial support disbursed so far, accordingly, increases to SDR 1.02 billion (about US$1.34 billion).
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External Sector Performance - January 2025
Sri Lanka’s external sector continued its positive momentum in January 2025, supported by robust inflows on account of services exports, tourism and workers’ remittances despite an expansion in the trade deficit.
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CCPI-based headline inflation remained in the negative territory in February 2025
In line with the Central Bank’s near term projections, headline inflation, as measured by the year-on-year (Y-o-Y) change in the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI, 2021=100) remained in the negative territory for the sixth consecutive month, recording a deflation of 4.2% in February 2025 compared to the deflation of 4.0% in January 2025.
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SL Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for Construction Industry – January 2025
Sri Lanka Purchasing Managers’ Index for Construction (PMI - Construction), as reflected by the Total Activity Index, further expanded to 52.9 in January 2025. Most survey respondents mentioned that prevailing business conditions, particularly stable price levels and favourable weather, had expedited the completion of ongoing construction projects. It was further highlighted that ensuring a steady pipeline of new projects is essential for the firms to maintain the continued progress.