Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka's Economy at a Glance

The rates and prices that shape every financial decision — inflation, interest rates, the rupee and the stock market, updated weekly from the Central Bank. The context behind the numbers on every comparison page here.

History

Cost of living — inflation

See real (after-inflation) FD returns →

Year-on-year consumer price inflation — headline (solid) and core (dashed; strips volatile food & energy to show the underlying trend). Your savings have to beat this just to hold their value.

  • Colombo (CCPI)
  • National (NCPI)
  • Colombo core
  • National core

The Central Bank's policy rate and the market-average benchmarks every bank prices against.

  • Policy rate (OPR)
  • Prime lending (AWPLR)
  • Avg deposit (AWDR)
  • Avg fixed deposit (AWFDR)

Treasury-bill yields

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Government T-bill yields by tenor — the risk-free benchmark your deposits should clear.

  • 91-day
  • 182-day
  • 364-day

The rupee (USD / LKR)

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Rupees to buy one US dollar (Central Bank reference rate). A higher number means a weaker rupee.

  • USD / LKR

Stock market

Colombo Stock Exchange — the All Share Price Index and the S&P Sri Lanka 20 (different index scales; watch the trend, not the gap).

  • All Share (ASPI)
  • S&P SL20

Foreign-exchange earnings (monthly)

What earns the rupee its foreign exchange — monthly workers’ remittances and tourism receipts, the fundamentals behind the exchange rate.

  • Workers’ remittances
  • Tourism earnings

Official reserves

The foreign-reserve buffer at month-end — import cover and the cushion behind the rupee.

  • Official reserve assets

Tourist arrivals (monthly)

International tourist arrivals per month — a leading signal for tourism earnings.

  • Tourist arrivals

Government debt

Outstanding central-government debt — domestic vs foreign (Rs bn). The build-up behind the 2022 sovereign default. Central Bank published this in the WEI through mid-2023.

  • Total
  • Domestic
  • Foreign

Money & credit growth

Year-on-year growth in broad money (M2b) and credit to the private sector — the monetary backdrop to inflation and rates. Central Bank published this in the WEI through mid-2023.

  • Broad money (M2b)
  • Private-sector credit

Source: Central Bank of Sri Lanka Weekly Economic Indicators (and the CBSL USD/LKR reference series for the rupee history). Trend arrows read from each indicator's point of view — rising inflation or a weaker rupee is unfavourable; a higher deposit or T-bill yield is favourable. This is a context dashboard, not advice.

The weekly macro series (inflation, policy & market rates, T-bills, the stock market and external sector) carry history back to 2017; the rupee chart goes back to 2005. Use the range buttons on each chart to zoom from the full arc to the most recent year.

New to these terms? Tap the i beside any series for a plain-language definition, or browse the full money glossary.