Inflation drives up consumption cost in SL
A study has shown that the monthly consumption expenditure of a family has increased to Rs. 110,000 due to the prevailing inflation, says Prof. Wasantha Athukorala of the Department of Economics & Statistics at the Peradeniya University.
The figure was at Rs. 63,000 in 2019.The monthly consumption expenditure of a family in extreme poverty increased to Rs. 25,500 from Rs. 14,500 in 2019, he adds. There are 2.1 people in this poverty category, he points out.
Also, the monthly consumption expenditure of a family falling into the high income category has increased to Rs. 345,000 from Rs. 198,000 in 2019, he adds.
In addition, the monthly consumption expenditure of a middle class family has increased to Rs. 83,000 from Rs. 48,000 in 2019.
Furthermore, Prof. Athukorala says that the number of people whose monthly consumption expenditure has passed the Rs.100,000 mark, has increased to 8.4 million from just 2.1 million in 2019.He points out that this figure has gone up not because of rising living standards, but due to the skyrocketing prices of consumption goods.