COLOMBO: The World Bank says economic reforms, International Monetary Fund programs and resumption of European Union’s Generalized System of Preferences Plus (GSP+) will help Sri Lanka’s economy to accelerate to 5.1 percent by 2019. The global lender says Sri Lanka’s growth is expected to pick up to about 4.7 percent in 2017 and accelerate to 5.1 percent by 2019, as The IMF-supported program helps improve macroeconomic resilience.
According to the World Bank’s June 2017 Global Economic Prospects, reforms initiated by the World Bank Development Policy Operation in 2016 are expected to reduce obstacles to private sector competitiveness in the medium-term and help attract Foreign Direct investment (FDI). Resumption of the GSP+ trading arrangement with the European Union will boost its export sector. Growth in the South Asia region is forecast to advance to a 6.8 percent pace in 2017 and accelerate to 7.1 percent in 2018, reflecting a solid expansion of domestic demand and exports. Excluding India, regional growth is anticipated to hold steady at 5.7 percent this year, rising to 5.8 percent in the next, with growth accelerating in Bhutan, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, but easing in Bangladesh and Nepal. India is expected to accelerate to 7.2 percent in fiscal 2017 and 7.5 percent in the following fiscal year.
