Weekly Economic Indicators - 25 September 2026

Inflation & Cost of Living

Published · Data as of · Source: CBSL Weekly Economic Indicators ↗

TL;DR

What changed
Headline inflation rose to 8.1% in August 2026, up from 7.2% in July 2026.
Who it affects
This affects consumers and businesses facing rising costs.
What to do
Monitor inflation trends and adjust financial strategies accordingly.

Key numbers

Indicator Value Change Period
Headline Inflation 8.1% ↑ +0.9 pp · July 2026 August 2026
Food Inflation 6.6% August 2026
Non-Food Inflation 9.3% August 2026
Core Inflation 6.3% ↑ +0.3 pp · July 2026 August 2026
AWPR 10.94% September 2026
AWCMR 8.96% ↑ +0.05 pp · previous week September 2026
Market Liquidity Surplus Rs. 370.92 bn ↑ +11.13 bn · previous week September 25, 2026
ASPI 21,037.35 pts September 25, 2026

What it means for you

  • The benchmark lending rate moved — check what your loan or credit card costs now. — EMI Calculator
  • The share market moved — relevant if you hold stocks or unit trusts. — Unit Trust Comparison

Official Announcement

25 September 2026 Highlights of the Week Real Sector

During the period from 21 to 25 September 2026, crude oil prices initially declined amid Saudi Arabia’s efforts to restore crude oil pipelines in the Red Sea region and renewed expectations of a diplomatic resolution to the US–Iran conflict during the UN General

Assembly. Prices increased later amid renewed militant attacks against Saudi Arabia and heightened US–Iran tensions.

Accordingly, compared to the previous week, Brent prices increased by US dollars 1.74 per barrel, while WTI prices declined by US

dollars 8.19 per barrel due to an unexpected increase in US crude oil inventories.

Monetary Sector

Weekly Average Weighted Prime Lending Rate (AWPR) for the week ending September 2026 increased by 18 bps to

10.94 per cent compared to the previous week.

The Average Weighted Call Money Rate (AWCMR) increased to 8.96 per cent on 25 September 2026 compared to 8.91 per cent at the end of last week.

The reserve money increased compared to the previous week, mainly due to the increase in deposits held by the commercial banks with the Central Bank.

The total outstanding market liquidity was a surplus of Rs. 370.92 bn by 25 September 2026, compared to a surplus of Rs. 359.79 bn by the end of last week.

By 26 September 2026, the All-Share Price Index (ASPI) decreased by 0.09 per cent to 21,037.35 points and the S&P SL 20 Index increased by 0.20 per cent to 5,940.72 points, compared to the index values of last week.

Fiscal Sector

During the week, Treasury Bill yields remained broadly stable in both primary and secondary markets, while Treasury Bond yields also remained broadly stable in the secondary market.

The rupee value of Treasury Bills and Treasury Bonds held by foreign investors decreased by approximately 4.5 percent in the reporting week compared to the previous week.

In the reporting week, the auction for Treasury Bills experienced an oversubscription rate of approximately 2.4 times.

The total volume of secondary market transactions in Treasury Bills and Treasury Bonds remained stable in the reporting week compared to the week before.

External Sector

Year to date depreciation of Sri Lanka rupee against the US dollar was 6.2 per cent as of 25 September 2026.

REALSECTOR 1.1 Price Indices

NCPI(2021=100) NCPI-Year-on-Year%

CCPI(2021=100)

Source:Departmentof Censusand Statistics

1.2 Prices 1.2.1 Pettah Market

Average Wholesale Prices Average Retail Prices Item (Rs./kg)

1.2.2 Marandagahamula Market

Average Wholesale Priceof Rice Item (Rs./kg)

Year AgoMonth AgoWeek AgoThis Week
Samba237.40227.20223.80223.60
Kekulu (White)194.40185.20176.80175.20
Kekulu (Red)190.60172.40170.40180.80
Nadu204.00187.60182.40185.40

n.a.-notavailable

1.2.3 Dambulla Market Narahenpita Economic Centre-Retail Prices

Average Wholesale Prices

Item (Rs./kg) Beans

Week Ago This Week 2026 2025

Rice-Nadu (White)

1.2.4 Narahenpita Economic Centre

/.

s220 Average Retail Prices R Item (Rs./kg)

Week Ago This Week 200

Nadu (White) 230.00 230.00

Kekulu (Red) 190.00 190.00

1.2.5 Fish Markets

Peliyagoda Negombo Narahenpita

Kelawalla 1,725.00 1,720.00 1,610.00 1,550.00 2,506.00 2,390.00 3,104.00 3,060.00

Balaya 870.00 1,000.00 n.a. 950.00 n.a. 1,260.00 1,260.00 1,160.00

Salaya 380.00 450.00 366.00 356.00 456.00 592.00 612.00 604.00

Hurulla 880.00 787.50 760.00 748.00 982.50 1,108.00 1,260.00 1,366.67

n.a.-notavailable

1.3GDPby Industrial Originat Constant (2015) Prices-Growth Rates

Annual Quarterly

Item (b) RealGDPGrowth

2024 2025 2025Q2 2026Q2

(b) Provisional

Source:Departmentof Censusand Statistics

1.4 Agricultural Production

Tea Production July %

Item 28

2025(a)2026(a)Change
Tea (mnkg)21.521.3(1.1)

Rubber (mnkg) 5.9 5.9 0.0

mn

May-June 16

Coconut (mnnuts) 555401..90 493.0

Sources:Sri Lanka Tea Board

(a) Provisional Rubber Development Department Coconut Development Authority (b)2025datarevisedbasedonhistoricaldatafromthe Coconut Research Institute (CRI).

Coconut Research Institute

1.5 Indexof Industrial Production (IIP)(2015=100)(a)

July %

(a) Major7subdivisions

(b) Revised

(c) Provisional

1.6 Purchasing Managers'Index (PMI)

70 PMIManufacturing x 60

PMIServices x

nI

nI

(a) Aspertheinternationalbestpractices,headlinePMIsfor Servicesand Constructionare Services -Manufacturing,itisaweightedaverageoffivesub-indices.Further,Manufacturing Production Index,Services Business Activity Indexand Construction Total Activity Indexarethecomparable figuresofPMI.

1.7 Employment

(b) Unemployment Rate

(c) R4.5

Employed Personsby Sectors (asa%of Total Employment)

2025 — 2025Q1 2026Q1

1.8 Wage Rate Indices

Informal Private Sector Employees' e

Wage Rate Index (2018=100)-Nominal I Informal Private Sector (2018=100)

1.9 Average Crude Oil Prices

Prices (DAP) WTI 120

Prices (DAP) WTI

Price)

January b

/

February 75.12 71.37 76.32 69.16 64.33 66.67 $

March 71.41 67.88 83.33 99.74 91.72 66.48

April 66.96 63.54 83.47 102.73 97.55 73.19

May 63.96 60.86 75.75 104.92 99.51 136.66

June 70.13 68.14 70.79 85.74 82.81 117.14

July 69.29 66.94 66.70 83.48 78.28 104.02 Aug21 Nov22 Feb24 May25 Aug26

August 67.47 64.23 66.84 87.94 82.35 87.92

67.63 63.69 73.51 Crude Oil Prices-Daily

September

October 64.25 60.33 72.86 130

WTI

November 63.69 59.51 72.59

l110 · Brent

December 61.81 58.02 68.40

/

Annual Avg. 68.25 64.90 7733..2829 $90

Date 2025 2026

18-Sep 67.69 63.76 104.10 101.34

19-Sep 67.36 63.61 - -

21-Sep - - 101.70 98.15

22-Sep 67.06 63.02 101.10 96.19

23-Sep 66.26 62.64 99.08 90.06

Sources:Bloomberg,Ceylon Petroleum Corporation

24-Sep 67.84 63.65 102.43 91.69

25-Sep 69.05 64.70 105.84 93.15

1.10 Daily Electricity Generation

Electricity Generationby Source

Thermal Oil21-Sep-2622-Sep-2623-Sep-2624-Sep-26OtherThermal CoalHydro
Peak Demand (MW)2,773.402,855.602,839.702,747.5060
Total Energy (GWh)54.4057.7357.4354.5650
(GWh)28.2726.3627.4629.4840

Hydro

Wh G30

Thermal Coal (GWh) 11.11 11.61 11.05 12.04

Thermal Oil (GWh) 4.86 4.73 4.78 4.34

Wind (GWh) 2.24 3.33 4.13 4.18

Solar (GWh) 7.52 11.34 9.64 4.15

Biomass (GWh) 0.39 0.36 0.37 0.36 uJ uJ

(a) Thehouseholdpopulationaged15andabove

(b) Averageoffourquarters Source::National System Operator (Pvt) Ltd

(c) Basedonthe International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC)-Revision4 (d)CPCimportpricesarenotdirectlycomparablewithfuturespricesofWTIand Brent,asCPC'simportpricesincludefreight/premiumchargesandthepriceisweightedforaverage

(e) Provisional

MONETARYSECTOR 2.1 Interest Rates (% p.a.)

OPRandAWCMR

Policy Interest Rate Year Ago Week Ago This Week

n8.75

Call Money Market e r8.50

Average Weighted Call Money Rate P8.25

(AWCMR)(Endofthe Week) 8.00

(b) — 7.75

Treasury Bill Yields (Primary Market)

Dateof Maturity

Treasury Bond Auction

01-Aug-203015-October-203401-July-2037
(11 September2026)
(3 Years11 Months)(8 Years1 Month)(10 Years10months)
Coupon Rate10.0011.70
Weighted Average Yield10.8311.96
Bankwise Average Weighted Prime Lending Rate

Amana Bank Bankof China

(a) Witheffectfrom27 November2024,theOPRisdefinedasthepolicyinterestrateofthe Central Bank.SDFRandSLFRarelinkedtotheOPRwithamarginof±50bps.

(b) Ratesaresourcedfromthe Public Debt Management Office (PDMO)

(c) Thebankhasnotgrantedloansduringthisweektoprimecustomers,hencethelatestavailableratehasbeenprovided.

2.2 Money Supply

Rs.bn Annual Change (%)

10 p

Ma Ma

2.3 Reserve Moneyand Currencyin Circulation

Reserve Money Currencyin Circulation

. — 1,600

s1,600 b R .

s1,400

2.4 Money Market Activity (Overnight)

Call Money Market 21-Sep-2026 22-Sep-2026 23-Sep-2026 24-Sep-2026 25-Sep-2026

AWCMR 8.91 8.92 8.92 8.93 8.96

Gross Volume (Rs.bn) 43.75 48.08 47.67 45.99 12.40

Repo Market 21-Sep-2026 22-Sep-2026 23-Sep-2026 24-Sep-2026 25-Sep-2026

2.5CBSLSecurities Portfolio

21-Sep-202622-Sep-202623-Sep-202624-Sep-202625-Sep-2026
CBSLTreasury Bill/Bond Holdings-Face Value (Rs.bn)2,492.62,492.62,492.62,492.62,492.6
CBSLTreasury Bill/Bond Holdings-Book Value (Rs.bn)1,526.01,524.61,525.31,531.01,534.4

(a) Provisional

(b) InrelationtoM2b

2.6 Open Market

Item 21.09.2026 22.09.2026 23.09.2026 24.09.2026 25.09.2026

Short-Term Auction

Repo Amount Offered (Rs. bn) 70.00 30.00 60.00 20.00 50.00 50.00 40.00 30.00 60.00 30.00

Tenure (No. of Days)

Bids Received (Rs. bn) 59.00 30.00 7.50 15.00 22.50 38.00 33.00 10.00 17.50 30.00

Amount Accepted (Rs. bn) 59.00 30.00 7.50 15.00 22.50 38.00 33.00 10.00 17.50 30.00

Outright Auctions

Long Term Auction

Repo Amount Offered (Rs. bn) - - 20.00 40.00 -

Settlement Date - - 24.09.2026 25.09.2026 -

Tenure (No. of Days) - - -

Bids Received (Rs. bn) - - 31.00 71.00 -

Amount Accepted (Rs. bn) - - 20.00 40.00 -

Minimum Accepted Rate ( % p.a.) - - 9.18 9.15 -

Maximum Accepted Rate ( % p.a.) - - 9.18 9.15 -

Weighted Average Yield Rate (% p.a.) - - 9.18 9.15 -

Liquidity Support Facility Auction

Standing Facility

Standing Deposit Facility (Rs. bn) 56.72 71.72 90.10 68.06 90.42

Standing Lending Facility (Rs. bn) 0.00 0.13 1.73 0.00 0.00

Total Overnight Market Liquidity (Rs. bn) 145.72 94.09 148.87 111.06 137.92

(a) 360.72 339.09 363.87 354.06 370.92

Total Outstanding Market Liquidity (Rs. bn)

(a) Total Outstanding Market Liquidity represents overnight liquidity adjusted for outstanding amounts of term repo/reverse repo transactions of the Central Bank with market participants.

2.7 Credit Cardsand Commerical Paper Issues 2.7.1 Credit Cards

December2025June2026July2026(b)
Total Numberof Active Cards2,166,1862,268,7122,280,120
Local (acceptedonlylocally)8,9157,7387,606
Global (acceptedglobally)2,157,2712,260,9742,272,514
Outstandingbalance (Rs.mn)189,706206,285209,189

2.7.2 Commercial Paper Issues (d) (b)

December2025 June2026 July2026

(e)(f)

(a) Issuedby Licensed Commercial Banks (LCBs)

(b) Provisional (c) Thepublicationofthebreakdownofoutstandingcreditcardbalanceswasdiscontinuedfrom21 August2026 (d) BasedontheinformationprovidedbyLCBsand Licensed Specialised Banks (LSBs)

(e) Year-to-datetotal

(f) Totalcumulative Commercial Paperissuancesincluderolloverissuances

Commerical Papers Issues (Cumulative) 2026 Outstanding Balanceof Credit Cards 2026

b b185

s3 s

2.8 Share Market

25-Sep-202518-Sep-202625-Sep-2026
All Share Price Index (1985=100)(ASPI)21,521.0621,056.2621,037.35
S&PSri Lanka20 Index (2004=1,000)(S&PSL20)6,102.585,928.895,940.72
Daily Turnover (Rs.mn)9,298.791,335.68814.85
Market Capitalisation (Rs.bn)7,661.867,642.257,624.86
Foreign Purchases (Rs.mn)257.3021.3813.72
Foreign Sales (Rs.mn)392.8727.29207.05
Net Foreign Purchases (Rs.mn)(135.58)(5.91)(193.33)

Share Market Indices-Daily

All Share Price Index (1985=100)(ASPI)

S&PSri Lanka20 Index (2004=1,000)(S&PSL20) — 6,000

I — 2

S20,000

5,000

f &

o18,000 S

4,000

n16,000 e

nI

Source:Colombo Stock Exchange

FISCALSECTOR 3.1 Government Finance (Rs.Bn)

Central Government Debt

(b) End Feb.2026-End May2026

3.2 Outstanding Central Government Debt (Rs.Bn)

n24,00020252026
Total Domestic Debts16,00018,675.3218,609.43
ofwhich; Treasury Bills8,0003,136.292,517.54
Treasury BondsEnd15,427.7515,819.77
End Feb.2026 End Mar.2026 End Apr.2026 End May2026
11,319.3612,185.61

29,994.69 30,795.04 Sources:Ministryof Finance,Planningand Economic Development

Total Outstanding Central Government Debt

Central Bankof Sri Lanka Note:Withtheestablishmentofthe Public Debt Management Office (PDMO)underthe Ministryof Finance,Planningand Economic Development (MOF),theresponsibilityforrecordingandpublishing Sri Lanka’spublicdebt nowfallsunderthePDMO,asmandatedbytheprovisionsofthe Public Debt Management Act,No.33of2024.Accordingly,the Quarterly Statistical Debt Bulletin,publishedbythePDMO,willserveastheofficialsourcefor debtstatistics.The Central Bankcompilesandpresents Outstanding Central Government Debttable (Table No.3.2)basedondatareceivedfromtheMOFtoensuredatacontinuity,followingthe Government Finance Statistics

3.3 Government Securities-Primaryand Secondary Market Yield Ratesforthe Week Ending-24 September2026

3.3.1 Treasury Billsand Treasury Bonds Primary Market (g)% Secondary Market (h)%

This Week · Last Week

Security Maturity Last Week This Week

Source:Public Debt Management Office,Ministryof Finance,Planningand Economic Development

TSheipst Weemebke.. — STehpitsem Webere2k4,20..

LSaesptt Weemebke.. — SLeapstetm Webere17k,20..

d — d12.3

ei ei

Y — Y10.8

(b) Aspertheguidelinesofcompilinggovernmentdebtstatisticsinthe Manualof Government Finance StatisticspublishedbytheIMFin2014,residentholdingsofoutstandingISBsof

the Sri Lankan Governmenthavebeenclassifiedunderdomesticdebt.Further,debtstatisticsarepresentedonnetbasis (netofdeposits)

(c) TheoutstandingcentralgovernmentdebtexcludesseveraldebtservicepaymentsthatbecameoverdueaŌer12 April2022,thedateofwhichthe Interim Policyregardingthe servicingof Sri Lanka’sexternalpublicdebtwasannouncedbythe Ministryof Finance,Planningand Economic Development.Thesedebtservicepaymentscompriseofcertain overdueinterestpaymentsofaffecteddebtwhichdeemedtobecapitalizedasperthe Interim Policy.

(d) Includesoutstandingbalanceofthegovernmentguaranteedforeigncurrencydebtofthe Ceylon Petroleum Corporationthatwasabsorbedintocentralgovernmentdebt.

(e) From December2022onwards,severaloutstandingprojectloanswhichwerepreviouslyclassifiedunder Ceylon Electricity Board,Airportand Aviation Services Ltd.and Sri Lanka Ports (f) Foreignloandebtstatisticsarepreparedbasedonthedatasourcedfromthe Commonwealth Secretariat Debt Recordingand Management System (CS-DRMS)maintainedbythe Ministryof Finance,Planningand Economic Development.

(g) Primarymarkettransactionsduringtheweekending24 September2026 (h) Averageofthesecondarymarketquotes 3.3.2 International Sovereign Bonds Maturity Secondary Market

Security Description

DateLast WeekThis Week
15-Apr-286.276.14
15-Jan-30Step-Up Macro-Linked Bondsdue20302.362.15
15-Mar-33Step-Up Macro-Linked Bondsdue20334.844.79

International

Sovereign

3.4 Government Securities-Weekly Summaryof Primaryand Secondary Market

Transactionsforthe Week Ending-24 September2026

Volumein Rs.Mn Item Last Week This Week

Outstanding Stockof Government Securities

(b) Volumein Rs.Mn

Primary Market Activities Last Week This Week Treasury Bills

PhaseI,Pricebased Competitive Bidding Auction

Treasury Bonds

PhasesI,IIandIII

Amount Offered150,000-
Total Bids Received309,947-
Amount Accepted150,000-
Direct Issuance Window
Amount Raised8,000-

Volumein Rs.Mn

Secondary Market Activities Last Week This Week

Treasury Bills

T.reasury Bonds

Sources:Public Debt Management Office,Ministryof Finance,Planningand Economic Development

Bloomberg (b) LimitedtoT-BillandT-Bondissuancesunderregularissuanceprocess.

3.5 Two Way Quotes (Treasury Bills) - 25 September 2026

Buying & Selling

3.6 Two Way Quotes (Treasury Bonds) - 25 September 2026

Maturity Date Buying & Selling

3.7 Treasury Bonds issued pursuant to the Domestic Debt Optimisation & External Debt Restructuring Programme

Maturity Date Buying & Selling

Source: Public Debt Management Office, Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development

EXTERNALSECTOR 4.1 Exchange Rate

25-Sep-26 Average Rate GBP

Daily Exchange Rates

USD

(USDmn) August July August

Purchases 356.0 348.6 579.0

Item Year Ago Week Ago 25-Sep-26

Average Daily Interbank Volume (USDmn) 71.16 36.05 47.16

Forward Transactions

Forward Rates (RsperUSD)

4.2 Tourism &Workers'Remittances

(f) (f)

(f) (f)

(g) (g)

0'

s — 700

a Dmn v200 S

i — 600

2025

f 500

o — 2026

N — 400

(a) Commercial Bank Average Middle Rate (prevailingat9.30a.m.)

(b) Central Bankmiddleexchangerate Sources:Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA)

(c) Totalmonthlypurchasesandsalesofforeignexchangebythe Central Bankfromcommercialbanksatmarketrates. Central Bankof Sri Lanka (d) The Central Bankforeignexchangeinterventiondataarebasedonvaluedate.

(e) Weeklyaveragebasedonactualtransactions.

(f) Provisional (g) The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authorityhasrevisedthemethodologyofcompilingmonthlyearningsfromtourismestimatesin May2026toenhancetheaccuracyandrepresentativenessofsuchestimates (h) Workers'remiƩancesmayincludeotherremiƩances,suchasthosereceivedfollowing Cyclone Ditwah.

4.3 Official Reserve Assetsasatend August2026 (USDMn)

Official Reserve Assets — 6,905

Foreign Currency Reserves — 6,690

ReservepositionintheIMF — 4

SDRs — 1

Gold — 210

Other Reserve Assets 0

4.4 International Reserves&Foreign Currency Liquidityasatend July2026 (USDMn)

Official Reserve Assets — 6,600

Foreign Currency Reserves — 6,368

(a) Securities — 3,346

(b) Totalcurrencyanddepositswith — 3,022

(i)othernationalcentralbanks,BISandIMF — 1,898

(ii)banksheadquarteredinsidethereportingcountryofwhichlocatedabroad 1

(iii)banksheadquarteredoutsidethereportingcountry — 1,123

ReservepositionintheIMF — 4

SDRs — 37

Gold — 192

Other Reserve Assets — 0

Predetermined Short-Term Net Drainson Foreign Currency Assets (USDmn)

Maturitybreakdown (residualmaturity)

Morethan1 Morethan3

Item Total Upto1

andupto3 monthsand

month

months upto1year

inflows (+) Principal

inflows (+) Interest

currenciesvis-à-visthedomesticcurrency (includingtheforwardlegof (3,721) (559) (660) (2,502)

currencyswaps)

(e) — (2,502)

inflowsrelatedtoreverserepos (+)

ouƞlowsrelatedtorepos (–)

otheraccountspayable (–) (2) (2)

(a) Provisional

(b) ThisincludesproceedsfromthePBOCswaparrangement,whichissubjecttoconditionalitiesonusability.

(c) Thismainlyincludesthepredeterminedouƞlows.

(d) ThesenetdrainsincludetheouƞlowsrelatedtotherestructuringtermsagreedwiththeISBholdersin December2024.

(e) AmajorshareofSWAPoutstandingwillberolledover.

4.5 External Trade

Jan-July (USDmn) Jan-July (Rs.mn)

(b) 2025 22002256(b) 2026

4.6 Trade Indices (2010=100)

Exports Trade Indices

Imports Termsof Trade (2010=100)

2,000 — e110

ul

Dmn1,000 a100

Dmn

U e90

1,500 d 800 n I80

4.7 Commodity Prices USD LKR

Tea Prices (Auction) Rice Prices (Imported) Crude Oil (Imported)

(a) Valuesinsometableshavebeenroundedofftothenearestfinaldigit.

(b) Provisional (c) InUSDTerms

View the official document (PDF) ↗

Source: CBSL Weekly Economic Indicators ↗

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