A
waiter serves a plate of rice and curry to a customer
at a wayside cafe in Colombo on August 04, 2008. Prices
of cooked food and other essentials have gone up by as
much as 50% over the past year, due to galloping world
crude oil and commodity prices. However, the official
inflation rate eased marginally to 26.6% in July, from
28.2% in June, the Census and Statistics Department said
last week. AFP PHOTO/Ishara S. KODIKARA
