By: LekshmiSajeev
Sri Lanka’s economy grew at its fastest pace in nearly a year from January to March, before the Easter Sunday bomb attacks on April 21 killed over 250 people, crushing the island’s tourism sector.
The economy gained 3.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2019, accelerating from a growth rate of 1.8 per cent the previous quarter – its slowest pace since early 2014, due to a political crisis.
Despite the recovery at the start of this year Sri Lanka’s economy is expected to slump to a nearly two-decade low in 2019, a Reuters poll showed, as tourism, foreign investment and business activity eased sharply in the wake of the bombings.
“There was some recovery in the first quarter with the recovery in consumer demand but we expect a big hit in the second quarter due to the bomb attacks,” said Dimantha Mathew, research head at First Capital Holdings.
“We expect zero or negative growth in the second quarter and around 1.5 per cent growth in the third quarter but we expect a recovery in the fourth quarter which will help the full year growth to be less than two per cent.”
Last month, central bank Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy said he expected the economy to grow by three per cent or less this year, dented by the impact of the bombings. The bank had earlier projected four per cent growth.
Sri Lanka’s services sector, accounting for more than half of the economy, grew at 4.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2019, compared to 4.4 per cent in the same period last year, data issued by the statistics department showed on Wednesday.
The industrial sector, accounting for more than a quarter of the economy, grew by 3.0 per cent, compared to 1.7 per cent growth the previous period while agriculture grew 5.5 per cent, compared to an earlier 5.1 per cent.
Growth in 2018 hit a 17-year low of 3.2 per cent, from 3.4 in 2017, due to a political crisis after President Maithripala Sirisena abruptly sacked his prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and dissolved parliament. That was later ruled unconstitutional, and Wickremesinghe was reinstated.
The crisis created panic and uncertainty among investors, who dumped Sri Lankan government bonds and other assets, sending the rupee currency to record lows.
Security in Sri Lanka has been ramped up since the April 21 attacks by Islamic militants, who killed over 250 people including 42 foreign nationals in churches and hotels across the country. Tourism, which accounts for 5 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product, has suffered as travellers from around the globe cancelled hotel and flight bookings.
The Islamic State had claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Reuters
