Sri Lanka’s inflation at 41-month high

Sri Lanka’s inflation rate accelerated to a 41-month high in June driven by the rupee’s sharp depreciation, while food prices were hit by supply constraints due to drought and government policies to discourage selected imports. Annual inflation hit 9.3 per cent in June from a year earlier, its highest since January 2009 and up from 7.0 per cent in May, government data showed on Friday.   Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast annual inflation in June would pick up to 7.6 per cent. “The rupee depreciation is taking a toll on inflation,” Danushka Samarasinghe, head of research at TKS Securities told Reuters.”