Sri Lanka Has The Highest Inflation Amongst South Asia Peers

Abstract

Sri Lanka, amidst facing one of its worst economic crisis, is currently experiencing rapidly rising inflation. The inflation increased to 15.1% year-on-year in February 2022, a 13-year high. When compared against other countries in the South Asian region, Sri Lanka recorded the highest inflation rate in the month of February 2022. Whilst inflation has been broad based, food prices increased faster than other sectors. The food inflation was 25.7% in February 2022. According to the Census and Statistics Department of Sri Lanka, both the food inflation and the overall inflation has worsened in the month of March 2022, reaching 30.2% and 18.7% respectively.