Central Bank of Sri Lanka to maintain Standing Lending Facility Rate unchanged at 15.5 percent

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has yesterday decided to maintain the Standing Lending Facility Rate unchanged at 15.5 percent.

The Standing Deposit Facility Rate also remains steady at the current levels of 14.50 per cent. In a statement, the monetary board of the bank said the decision is based on domestic and global projections. The board noted that tightening of monetary and fiscal policy would help the central bank to bring inflation rates to desired levels. The Inflation for December was reported to be 59.3 percent down from September highs of 73 percent.

The island nation has been facing runaway inflation since last year as the economy spiralled into a crisis with forex shortages. The central bank had to peg the exchange rate at 360 to 370 for every dollar down from around 200 last year.