Advocata’s Bath Curry Indicator (BCI) which is a price-index that tracks the monthly changes in the retail price of a basket of commonly consumed food items using prices collected from the Pettah market (by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka),  recorded a year-on-year increase of 33.72% in December 2023, compared to the same corresponding period of 2022.

In real terms, this means that an average family, who spent Rs. 1825.85 weekly on a packet of rice and curry in December 2022 had to pay Rs. 2440.25 in December 2023.

When considering the Y-o-Y % monthly price changes within the BCI for year 2023, it reveals an opening of 35.01% in January,  dropping to a peak low of -3.88% in August and gradually rising to 8.86% in November and experiencing a sharp increase to 33.72% in December. However, compared to the year 2023, the  year 2022 saw an average increase in monthly Y-o-Y % price changes in all-year except for January 2022 and December 2022.

In contrast to 2022  figures, the price of brinjals has increased by 85.3%, tomatoes by 134.6%, and green chilies by 322.5%, while the price of dhal has decreased by 18.6%, and red onions saw a reduction of 13.7%. These are the items that had a significant impact on the BCI price change in December 2023.

Advocata Institute also tracks the price of the same basket of food items as they retail at local supermarkets (the BCI-Supermarket). Notably, BCI-Supermarket  in 2023 also consistently trended in parallel with the BCI (CBSL) throughout 2023 as depicted in the below graph.

The graph below visualizes the fluctuations in the BCI (using CBSL data) and BCI-Supermarket indices for 2022 and 2023.

The Advocata BCI tracks the weekly retail prices in the Colombo market of the most commonly consumed food ingredients that might be used in a typical Bath curry meal. The prices are collected from the “Weekly Indicators” that the Central Bank publishes.

The BCI Indicator can be accessed at www.bci.advocata.org.

Advocata is an independent policy think tank based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. We conduct research, provide commentary and hold events to promote sound policy ideas compatible with a free society in Sri Lanka. Visit advocata.org for more information.