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Food prices soar 15% in single month 

10 Jan 2022

  • Increase driven by rising veggie prices: Advocata Bath Curry Index 
Colombo-based think tank Advocata stated its Bath Curry Indicator (BCI), which tracks the monthly changes in the retail price of food, recorded an increase of 15% from November 2021 to December 2021.  Much of this increase is driven by rising prices of vegetables; 100 g of green chillies, which was at Rs. 18, has been increased to Rs. 71, which is a 287% increase in just one month. Similarly, the price of brinjals has been increased by 51%, red onions by 40%, and beans and tomatoes by 10%.  Overall, since 2019, prices have almost doubled, and compared to December 2020, prices have increased by 37%.  This means that an average family of four, who spent Rs. 1,165 weekly on the BCI basket of food items in December 2020, now has to pay Rs. 1,593 for the same basket of goods just one year later.  The BCI tracks the weekly retail prices in the Colombo market of the most commonly consumed food ingredients that might be used in a typical bath curry meal. The prices are collected from the “Weekly Indicators” published by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL).


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