Former United National Party Deputy Leader and Parliamentarian Ravi Karunanayake has criticised the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, claiming it has failed to fulfil its responsibility of controlling inflation for seven consecutive quarters.
Speaking on the country’s economic situation, Karunanayake said official figures show that inflation has risen to 6.8%, which he described as evidence of the Central Bank’s failure to maintain price stability.
He argued that the current inflation is not driven by consumer demand and claimed that the Central Bank is likely to increase interest rates in response.
Karunanayake alleged that the policy interest rate, which he said had already been increased from 7.75% to 8.75%, may have to be raised further in an effort to contain inflation.
He also questioned whether such measures would be sufficient to achieve the inflation targets agreed under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.
