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Sri Lankan Central Bank Holds Policy Rate For Fifth Time

248 days ago

(RTTNews) - Sri Lanka's central bank Tuesday decided to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged for the fifth month in a row, saying that the current monetary policy stance is appropriate for the country to achieve the expected economic growth.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka retained its repurchase rate at 7.75 percent, and the reverse repurchase rate at 9.75 percent.

"Reflecting the impact of the policy measures taken, credit obtained by the private sector has decelerated since the second quarter of 2012, and the policy measures in place are expected to help ensure that the growth of credit will be within the desired level at year end," the bank said.

The economy expanded 6.4 percent on an annual basis in the second quarter. In the first half of the year, gross domestic product grew by 7.2 percent.

Sri Lanka's inflation weakened to 9.5 percent in August, after increasing in the previous two months. The central bank expects demand management policies adopted by the authorities to help contain inflation within single digit levels in the coming months.

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