A high-level delegation from the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) visited Sri Lanka during March 2025, to provide critical insights and support for the upcoming Mutual Evaluation (ME) on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) framework of Sri Lanka, scheduled to commence in March 2026. The delegation engaged with local authorities to discuss Sri Lanka’s preparedness for this important evaluation.

In line with the Central Bank’s near term projections, deflationary conditions commenced easing in March 2025. Headline inflation, as measured by the year-on-year (Y-o-Y) change in the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI, 2021=100)1 remained in the negative territory for the seventh consecutive month, yet recorded a slower deflation of 2.6% in March 2025 compared to the deflation of 4.2% recorded in February 2025.