Sri Lanka inflation eases

Sri Lanka's year-on-year inflation eased marginally to just under 25 percent in August, according to official data Friday.
The New Colombo Consumer Price Index hit 206.3 points in August, up from 165.2 in August last year, representing a 24.9 percent increase, the figures released by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka showed.
Year-on-year inflation was 26.6 percent in July.
Estimated annual average inflation for 2008 stood at 22.6 percent at the end of August, the bank said. The figure stood at 21.9 percent at the end of July.
Sri Lanka's economy has been hit by a long-running ethnic conflict with separatist Tamil Tiger rebels that has left tens of thousands of people dead.
Sri Lanka has poured a record 1.5 billion dollars into the war effort this year, hoping for a quick end to the conflict. Analysts say the government's war spending has been fuelling inflation.