AFP, Colombo

Sri Lanka’s consumer prices fell by 4.0 percent in January, the highest deflation rate since July 1960, official data showed Friday, as the South Asian nation emerges from its worst economic meltdown.

January was the fifth consecutive month of deflation, according to the Colombo Consumer Price Index.

Inflation hit a record 69.8 percent in September 2022 at the height of the country’s economic crisis, which saw months of widespread consumer goods shortages.