Sri Lankans are to face another round of increases in the prices of food and basic services after the National New Year, with the government planning to increase taxes on consumer goods as state coffers run dry.

Economists have cast doubts on the manner in which Sri Lanka’s inflation index is calculated and on forecasts of foreign direct investments in the Central Bank (CB)’s annual report for 2011. The Department of Census and Statistics has revised both the CCPI (Colombo Consumer Price Index) and the Core Inflation Index, used mainly for policy purposes, the report, released on Monday said.