bloomberg.com,  Wed Feb 15 23:34:15 EST 2006

    Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Sri Lanka's central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged for a second month to spur investment and fuel economic growth after four increases last year helped slow inflation.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka left the repurchase rate at which it drains money from the banking system at 8.75 percent, the monetary authority said in a statement today. Five of six analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had expected the Colombo-based bank to keep the rate unchanged.

Central bank Governor Sunil Mendis and his fellow policy makers increased the rate by 1.25 percentage points last year to curb inflationary pressures arising from increases in bank lending and oil prices. Inflation slowed to a 10-month low in January, allowing the bank to keep borrowing costs steady
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- The Academic