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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.

NCPI based Inflation increased in July 2021

Headline inflation, as measured by the year-on-year (Y-o-Y) change in the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI, 2013=100), increased to 6.8 percent in July 2021 from 6.1 per cent in June 2021. This was driven by the monthly increases of prices of items in both Food and Non-food categories. Accordingly, Food inflation (Y-o-Y) increased to 11.0 per cent in July 2021 from 9.8 per cent in June 2021 and Non-Food inflation (Y-o-Y) increased to 3.2 per cent in July 2021 from 2.9 per cent in June 2021.

The NCPI, measured on an annual average basis, remained unchanged at 5.4 per cent in July 2021.

Use of Electronic Fund Transfer Cards (EFTCs) for Payments in Foreign Exchange

It has been brought to the attention of the Central Bank that messages are being circulated stating that credit card, debit card and other stored value card holders are restricted/prohibited from making certain payments in foreign exchange, to persons resident outside Sri Lanka using such cards.

The public is informed that the Central Bank has not introduced any new restrictions on the use of EFTCs, i.e., credit cards, debit cards and other stored value cards, and holders of such cards are permitted to use them to make payments to persons resident outside Sri Lanka in respect of current transactions of personal nature. However, it is observed that some banks have introduced certain limits on use of EFTCs for transactions in foreign exchange to avoid misuse of such cards and to prioritize transactions in line with foreign exchange positions of such banks.

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