The Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, at its meeting held on 03 March 2021, decided to maintain the Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) and the Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) of the Central Bank at their current levels of 4.50 per cent and 5.50 per cent, respectively. The Board arrived at this decision after carefully considering the macroeconomic conditions and expected developments on the domestic and global fronts. The Board noted the recent slowdown in credit disbursements to the private sector and inadequate lending to productive sectors of the economy, and stressed the need for the financial system to actively lend to productive sectors in order to support the ongoing recovery of domestic production-based economic activity. Further, the Board observed the recent uptick in certain market interest rates, and reemphasised its commitment to continue the low interest rate structure until the economy shows signs of sustained revival, in the context of the low inflation environment.