Dec. consumer inflation eases slightly to 7.1%

(Reuters) - Consumer prices in December rose 7.1 percent from a year earlier, easing from the previous month’s 7.6 percent, government data showed on Friday.

    Core annual inflation, which excludes fresh food, energy, transport, rice and coconuts, also cooled to 4.3 percent in December on an annual basis, from the previous month’s 5.2 percent. The index has a revised base year of 2013 and market basket.

    On a month-on-month basis, the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) rose 0.6 percent this month, compared with a 1.2 percent rise in November, data from the Department of Census and Statistics showed.

    The inflation rate in December as measured on a 12-month moving average basis rose to a record high of 6.6 percent from the previous month’s 6.4 percent.

 The following table shows changes in Sri Lanka’s consumer price index:

                                                         Dec 2017         Nov 2017

   Colombo CPI (new index)            122.9            122.2

   Annual average (pct change)          6.6              6.4 

   Change on year (pct)                 7.1              7.6 

   Change month on month (pct) (-)      0.6              1.2 

   Core annual inflation                4.3              5.2 

   (Base 2013=100)