Colombo: Sri Lanka’s inflation, measured by the year-on-year change in the Colombo Consumer Price Index, rose to 69.8 per cent in September from 64.3 percent a month earlier, a newspaper said on Saturday.
The Island quoted the Department of Census and Statistics as announcing on Friday that this increase in inflation was driven by the monthly increases of both food and non-good categories.
The Department also announced that food prices have gone up by 94.9 per cent in September, from 93.7 per cent in August. Non-food inflation increased to 57.6 per cent in September compared to 50.2 percent in August.
The Department said the prices of transport, education, housing, gas, electricity and communication in the non-food category have been rising sharply this year, the report said.
Sri Lanka is battling its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948, leading to widespread shortages of even essential commodities like food, fuel and medicines. Prices of essentials available in the market have also shot up, forcing tens of thousands of impoverished Sri Lankans to skip meals or eat less.
