March consumer prices up 4.2%

Reuters: Consumer prices rose 4.2% in March from a year earlier, but eased from the previous month’s 4.5% rate, government data showed on Thursday.

Core annual inflation, which excludes fresh food, energy, transport, rice and coconuts, rose 3.4% in March on an annual basis, easing from the previous month’s 3.5%. The index has a revised base year of 2013 and market basket. On a month-on-month basis, the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) fell 0.4% in March, compared with a 0.7% decline in February, data from the Department of Census and Statistics showed.

The inflation rate in March, as measured on a 12-month moving average basis, eased to 6.1% from 6.4% in February.