Sri Lanka, March 9 -- Sri Lanka is better equipped than during its 2022 financial crisis to absorb shocks from rising oil prices, Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe said, citing a strong US$ 7 billion foreign reserve buffer and low inflation as critical safeguards.

With inflation at the end of last month standing at 1.6 percent, compared with the Central Bank's target of 5 percent, Dr. Weerasinghe confidently expressed that this gives Sri Lanka sufficient space to absorb a price shock of that nature into domestic inflation.

"I do not have a specific threshold to say this is the exact level we can tolerate, but we are far better prepared than we were in the past. During the crisis, inflation was extremely high. If a similar s...