ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka cuts policy rates 250 basis points lowering the rate at which liquidity is injected to markets to 14.0 percent to from 16.50 percent, saying inflation was falling faster than expected.

The balance payments has also been in surplus for several months.

“The Board arrived at this decision with a view to easing monetary conditions in line with the faster than expected slowing of inflation, gradual dissipation of inflationary pressures and further anchoring of inflation expectations,” the central bank said in its May policy statement.

“The commencing of such monetary easing is expected to provide an impetus for the economy to rebound from the historic contraction of activity witnessed in 2022, while easing pressures in the financial markets.”

“Headline inflation (year-on-year), based on the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI), continued the deceleration path, faster-than-projected earlier, supported by the lagged impact of tight monetary and fiscal policies, strengthening of the Sri Lanka rupee, reduction in fuel and gas prices, normalisation of food prices and the favourable impact of the statistical base effect.

“The full passthrough of the large appreciation of the exchange rate observed recently is yet to be
reflected in the price levels, and it would quicken the disinflation process, as the prices of imported goods are expected to decline further in the period ahead.”

Sri Lanka’s balance of payments has been surplus for several months and the central bank has allowed the rupee to appreciate. When the BOP is in surplus and as long as the central bank can buy dollars and generate liquidity rates can fall.

“With greater macroeconomic stability being achieved through corrective policy measures, particularly in terms of faster-than-expected deceleration of inflation thus far during 2023 and the benign inflation outlook and the easing of the BOP pressures, the Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, upon carefully assessing the current and expected developments, decided to relax the stance of monetary policy and reduce the policy interest rates.”

Market rates however has been high amid expectations of a domestic debt re-structuring and mainly government borrowings and liquidity conditions, though private credit is negative and state energy enterprises are making profits or cutting losses.

Loans from the Asian Development Bank has started to come. More funding is also expected from the World Bank further easing government funding. Foreign funding of the budget can widen the trade and current account deficit without harming the balance of payments.

In April the balance of payments was 883 million dollars in surplus after meeting payments including to the International Monetary Fund, slightly up from 858 million dollars in March.

A BOP surplus indicates that the liquidity operations of a reserve collecting central bank is not inflationary.

The full statement is reproduced below:

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka relaxes its Monetary Policy Stance

The Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, at its meeting held on 31 May 2023, decided to reduce the Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) and the Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) of the Central Bank by 250 basis points to 13.00 per cent and 14.00 per cent, respectively.

The Board arrived at this decision with a view to easing monetary conditions in line with the faster than expected slowing of inflation, gradual dissipation of inflationary pressures and further anchoring of inflation expectations. The commencing of such monetary easing is expected to provide an impetus for the economy to rebound from the historic contraction of activity witnessed in 2022, while easing pressures in the financial markets.

Inflation is projected to decelerate notably in the period ahead, reaching single digit levels
earlier than expected

Headline inflation (year-on-year), based on the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI), continued the deceleration path, faster-than-projected earlier, supported by the lagged impact of tight monetary and fiscal policies, strengthening of the Sri Lanka rupee, reduction in fuel and gas prices, normalisation of food prices and the favourable impact of the statistical base effect.

The full passthrough of the large appreciation of the exchange rate observed recently is yet to be reflected in the price levels, and it would quicken the disinflation process, as the prices of imported goods are expected to decline further in the period ahead. The favourable statistical base effect due to large month-on-month inflation that materialised during the last year is expected to slow inflation significantly in the next few months as well. Accordingly, as per the latest projections of the Central Bank, headline inflation is forecast to reach single digit levels in early Q3-2023, and stabilise around mid single digit levels over the medium term

The external sector, which underwent an unprecedented setback in 2022, begins to
demonstrate improved performance

During the four months ending April 2023, the trade deficit decreased notably, compared to a year earlier, reflecting mainly the subdued import expenditure, which outweighed the impact of moderation of external demand for merchandise exports. Inflows to the domestic forex market remain robust following the approval of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The significant revival of workers’ remittances and earnings from tourism continued to build resilience in the external sector.

The renewed foreign investor appetite for short term government securities has also helped improve forex liquidity in the recent months.

The exchange rate, which is allowed to be determined by market forces, continues to reflect positive market sentiments underpinned by the improvement in liquidity in the domestic forex market. The Central Bank has absorbed a sizeable amount of foreign exchange from the domestic forex market thus far in 2023, resulting in a steady increase in gross official reserves (GOR). As of end May 2023, the level of GOR is estimated to have surpassed US dollars 3 billion, including the swap facility from the People’s Bank of China.

Reflecting the improved balance of payments (BOP) conditions, the Central Bank relaxed the cash margin deposit requirements imposed on selected imports in May 2023, and further measures will be initiated to loosen capital flow restrictions in the period ahead. Further, the Monetary Board viewed that a gradual phasing out of the existing import restrictions would need to commence soon.

The continuation of the IMF-EFF supported programme, further financial assistance from international development partners, such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank, and renewed investor appetite, coupled with the advances in the debt restructuring process, are expected to ease the BOP constraint significantly in the period ahead, supporting the recovery in domestic economic activity. (Colombo/June01/2023)