A high-level delegation from the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) visited Sri Lanka during March 2025, to provide critical insights and support for the upcoming Mutual Evaluation (ME) on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) framework of Sri Lanka, scheduled to commence in March 2026. The delegation engaged with local authorities to discuss Sri Lanka’s preparedness for this important evaluation.

In line with the Central Bank’s near term projections, deflationary conditions commenced easing in March 2025. Headline inflation, as measured by the year-on-year (Y-o-Y) change in the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI, 2021=100)1 remained in the negative territory for the seventh consecutive month, yet recorded a slower deflation of 2.6% in March 2025 compared to the deflation of 4.2% recorded in February 2025.

By virtue of the powers vested under Section 19 (1) read together with section 19 (2) of the Financial Transactions Reporting Act, No. 6 of 2006 (FTRA), financial penalties are imposed on Institutions for non-compliance with the provisions of the FTRA. The penalty may be prescribed by taking into consideration the nature and gravity of relevant non-compliance of the Institutions.

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.