CBSL policy interest rates unchanged at 14.50% - 15.50%

The Board was of the view that the monetary conditions remain sufficiently tight to pull down the near future inflation. Contractionary fiscal policies & tight monetary policy are required to mitigate any demand-push pressures on inflation.

The real economy is estimated to have contracted by 4.8% in 1H 2022 and expects the economy to contract in 2H 2022 as well. The current declining trend in the year-on-year growth of credit to the private sector is expected to continue during the remainder of the year