Sri Lanka budget deficit decreased by Rs. 487 bn in first 10 months of 2024

During the period from January to October 2024, overall budget deficit decreased to Rs. 1,060.7 bn compared to Rs. 1,547 bn recorded in the corresponding period of 2023, the Weekly Economic Indicators report of the Central Bank states.

“Outstanding central government debt decreased to Rs. 28,574.7 bn by end September of 2024 from Rs. 28,695.9 bn as at end 2023. By the end of September 2024, total outstanding domestic debt amounted to Rs. 17,595.1 bn while the value of total outstanding foreign debt amounted to Rs. 10,979.6 bn,” it notes.

“During the week, T-Bill yield rates declined in both primary and secondary markets, while T-Bond yields also indicated a reduction in the secondary market. The rupee value of T-Bills and T-Bonds held by foreign investors increased by 4 per cent during the reporting week. The T-Bill auction held during the reporting week was oversubscribed by 2.1 times. A decrease of 23.8 per cent was observed in the total volume of secondary market transactions in T-Bills and T-Bonds in the reporting week compared to the week before.”

“During the year up to 27th December 2024, the Sri Lanka rupee appreciated against the US dollar by 10.1 per cent.”

“Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, National Consumer Price Index based headline inflation remained in the negative territory for the third consecutive month, recording a deflation of 1.7 per cent in November 2024 compared to the deflation of 0.7 per cent in October 2024. Prices of the items in the Food category, on year-on-year basis, remained unchanged in November 2024. Meanwhile, Non-Food category recorded a deflation of 3.1 per cent in November 2024. Further, the NCPI based core inflation decelerated further to 1.5 per cent in November 2024 from 1.7 per cent in October 2024.”

“Weekly Average Weighted Prime Lending Rate (AWPR) for the week ending 27th December 2024 decreased by 34 bps to 9.06 per cent compared to the previous week.”

“The reserve money increased compared to the previous week mainly due to increase in the currency in circulation and deposits held by the commercial banks with Central Bank. The total outstanding market liquidity was a surplus of Rs. 148.272 bn by 27th December 2024, compared to a surplus of Rs. 136.147 bn by the end of the last week.”

“During the ten months ending October 2024, government revenue and grants increased to Rs. 3,266.9 bn compared to Rs. 2,434.0 bn in the corresponding period of 2023.”

“Total expenditure and net lending increased to Rs. 4,327.7 bn from January to October 2024 compared to Rs. 3,981.1 bn in the corresponding period,” the reports states.