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Sri Lanka's Employees Provident Fund (EPF) is offering a positive return of 13% to its members for 2023, as confirmed by State Minister for Finance, Ranjith Siyambalapitiya. This increase marked a significant uptick from the 9.0 percent return seen in previous years. The decision to offer this elevated return stemmed from the fund's earnings throughout 2023. Notably, this adjustment followed a restructuring of EPF debt, which included extending maturities and initially raising the coupon to 12 percent. These measures were implemented after the country's central bank devalued the currency from 200 to 370, resulting in a substantial loss of its real value and spurring a sharp inflation spike to 70 percent. However, over the past year, the central bank's efforts to appreciate the currency have aided in partially mitigating the fund's losses. According to the Central Bank, the liability to EPF members surged by 12.9 percent to 3,817.9 billion rupees in 2023, while the total value of the fund experienced an 11.5 percent increase, reaching 3,857.4 billion rupees. Remarkably, since September 2022, when monetary stability was restored, inflation, as measured by the widely tracked Colombo Consumer Price Index, has remained subdued, contributing to the fund's overall stability.
