Sri Lanka’s central bank will pay an extra premium of 10 rupees for US dollar converted into rupees by expatriated workers during the month of December, up from an existing 2 rupees.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced its new USD 19 Mn, five-year Sri Lanka Energy Programme (SLEP) on 17 November, the US Embassy in Sri Lanka said recently.

Sri Lanka’s inflation accelerated to 9.9 percent in the 12-months to November from 7.6 percent in October, in the wake of record money printing for over two years, while policy in reserve currency central banks also deteriorated.

Sri Lanka’s state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation hit by price controls and forex shortages from call money rate targeting has racked up debt of 707.5 billion rupees by July 2021, official data showed. CPC had imported 18.4 million barrels of crude and refined...