Sri Lanka, Jan. 29 -- Credit card holders appear to have begun to loosen their purse strings in the final few months of last year, setting off potentially a sustained period of growth in card spend by people as both inflation and financial conditions have started easing.

The data from the Central Bank suggested that the months-long decline seen in the total outstanding credit card balance have ended in November as people have spent Rs.1,205.0 million via their cards on a net basis compared to a net settlement of Rs.309.0 million in October.

With November data, the licensed commercial banks in total have expanded their outstanding card balances by Rs.2,099 million in the eleven months to Rs.145,197 billion as there wasn't much of a growt...