SLEA e-seminar on Sri Lanka’s current food inflation on Saturday

Under the direction of its new President Prof. Ven. W. Wimalaratatna, the Sri Lanka Economic Association (SLEA) is organising a monthly e-seminar series, the first of which will be held on Saturday, 29 January from 6:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on the ‘Zoom’ platform.

The seminar is based on a contemporary interest topic, ‘Current Food Inflation in Sri Lanka: Causes and Consequences’.

The current food inflation has become one of the key issues in the Sri Lankan economy. On a year-on-year basis, the food inflation has increased by 22.1% in December 2021, and it was 17.5% in November 2021. The high food inflation is considered as a key driver of overall inflation in the country. A large portion of the current food inflation is driven by supply-side factors such as the decline of domestic production, rising prices of imported items, and the disruption of the distribution network owing to the COVID-19 pandemic situation.

Even though the food consumption pattern has not changed in the country in the short-run, consumers’ panic buying behaviour created a tense situation in the food market at times.

Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute Senior Research Officer Dr. E.A.C. Priyankara (PhD) will make the presentation on the current food inflation in Sri Lanka.

The discussant of the presentation will be University of Colombo Dept. of Economics Senior Lecturer Dr. Priyanga Dunusinghe. The moderator of the seminar will be University of Colombo Dept. of Economics’ Prof. Sirimal Abeyratne.

Interested parties could register early by contacting the SLEA office on phone numbers +112559478/0703889356 or email address [email protected].