Sri Lanka revise National Consumer Price Index

COLOMBO (News 1st); The Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to revise the base year of the National Consumer Price Index.  

The National Consumer Price Index is a key determinant of Gross Domestic Product deflation while being a more descriptive indicator of overall inflation in the country.

The reference year for the first data series of the National Consumer Price Index is 2013. 

The items contained in the goods and services basket and the weights of goods and services should also be updated to reflect the current consumption expenditure of households in Sri Lanka.

The following measures taken by the Department of Census and Statistics were presented by the President to the Cabinet of Ministers and received the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers.

• Updating the National Consumer Price Index from base year 2013=100 to base year 2021 =100.

• Processing and publication of new National Consumer Price Index and National Level Inflation Rate every 21 days from January 2023.

• Weighting for the updated National Consumer Price Index based on consumer spending in 2019.

• Preparation and publication of the inflation rate for the urban areas of the Colombo District by updating the Colombo Consumer Price Index for the new base year 2021=100, covering the urban areas of the Colombo District from January 2023.