Sri Lanka target 3.6% economic growth this year and 6.6% from 2022 says State Minister
Sri Lanka’s State Minister for Money and Capital Market and State Enterprise Reforms, Ajith Nivard Cabraal has reportedly stated that the country will achieve a 3.6% economic growth rate in 2021 and thereafter will maintain a 6.6% growth from 2022.
The State Minister has told Daily News Business recently that Sri Lanka will achieve this target despite an economic growth rate contraction in 2020 and also successfully battling the COVID-19 Pandemic.
He has further noted that the government had offered a host of unbudgeted handouts to the public plus a huge sum spent for vaccination and COVID-19 controls. “Despite all these odds they kept the economy going similar to the LTTE terror period where the country achieved an 8.8% growth. Due to the government’s prudent economic management and huge debt service obligation, Sri Lanka will achieve the 3.6% growth in 2021 and 6.6% from 2022,” he has been quoted as saying.
The 2021 budget deficit will also be narrowed to 10.8%, from 11.1% last year.
He has further noted that Sri Lanka had settled all its debt obligations for 2020 and this was minus taking any new ‘loans’ which they hoped to maintain in the future too.
“We opt for currency swaps, an increase of FDI, borrowing locally and tools in debt service which have proved to be very successful. Sri Lanka also has sufficient reserves to meet all debt obligations,” the State Minister has further noted.
Cabraal has added that the government of Sri lanka was looking to attract over US$ 2.5 billion in foreign direct investments (FDIs) this year with most of it coming from the Colombo Port City Development projects.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s economy has shown great resilience to external and internal challenges through the years and is already showing strong signs of returning to normalcy after facing the impact of the global Covid 19 pandemic. All key economic sectors in the country are currently back in operation with the manufacturing and exports sectors showing great promise. Also, Sri Lanka is fast becoming a business hub in the South Asian region given its geographical positioning in the Indian Ocean region and the many trade agreements as well as trade concessions enjoyed by the country.
Article Code : | VBS/AT/24032021/Z_7 |