Colombo (LNW): The National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) registered a Year-on-Year (y-o-y) inflation rate of 2.8 per cent for November 2023, the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) reported.
This reflects a notable increase from the October 2023 inflation rate of 1.0 per cent, marking a 1.8 per cent rise.
In terms of Food-Inflation, there was a shift from -5.2 per cent in October to -2.2 per cent in November 2023. Non-food inflation increased from 6.3 per cent in October to 7.1 per cent in November.
The overall NCPI for November 2023 stands at 206.0, representing a 2.4 index point increase or a 1.19 per cent rise compared to October 2023 (203.6). This translates to a Rs. 1231.49 increase in the expenditure value of the “market basket.”
Specifically, increases in index values were observed for items such as Vegetables (0.62 per cent), Rice (0.14 per cent), Sugar (0.09 per cent), Coconuts (0.06 per cent), Big onions (0.06 per cent), Green chilies (0.06 per cent), Red onions (0.05 per cent), Limes (0.03 per cent), Coconut oil (0.02 per cent), Potatoes (0.02 per cent), Mysore dhal (0.01 per cent), Tea dust/leaves (0.01 per cent), and Fresh fruits (0.01 per cent).
Conversely, decreases were noted for Fresh fish (0.19 per cent), Chicken (0.08 per cent), Dried fish (0.07 per cent), Eggs (0.07 per cent), Green gram (0.02 per cent), and Chili powder (0.01 per cent).
The uptick in the non-food group index values in November 2023, compared to the previous month, can be attributed to price increases in items under ‘Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other fuels’ (Materials for Maintenance and Electricity bill) (0.53 per cent) and ‘Restaurants and Hotels’ (0.02 per cent).
On the other hand, decreases were reported in ‘Transport (Petrol)’ (0.08 per cent), ‘Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco, and Narcotics’ (Beetle leaves) (0.02 per cent), and ‘Health’ (Spectacles) (0.02 per cent). Additionally, marginal price decreases were observed in ‘Clothing and Footwear’, ‘Furnishing, Household equipment, and Routine household maintenance’, ‘Recreation and Culture’, and ‘Miscellaneous Goods and Services’.
The report notes that the price indices for ‘Communication’ and ‘Education’ groups remained unchanged during the month.
