
- Forecasts 5.5-6% economic growth amid low base effect, resumption of tourism, vaccination drive and positive global economic outlook
- Says domestic investments have started to pick up, as seen in Purchasing Managers Index and Business Outlook Survey
- Expects private sector credit to grow by Rs.850bn this year
- Urges international agencies to look at country’s prospects in a positive view before arriving in projections
- Plans to maintain country’s foreign exchange reserves at US $ 5.5bn by end of this year
- Says negotiations underway with foreign agencies, including multilateral lenders, foreign central banks and foreign commercial banks, to secure funding
By Nishel Fernando
While dismissing the ‘doom and gloom predictions’ of international agencies, the Central Bank (CB) expects a marked improvement in Sri Lanka’s macroeconomic fundamentals this year, under the government’s ‘alterative policy’, recovering from the impacts of the pandemic, last year.
“As a result of the policies we adopted, we expect the economic growth to end up in the 5.5 percent-6 percent range in 2021,” CB Governor Prof. W.D. Lakshman told reports in Colombo, yesterday.
http://www.dailymirror.lk/business__main/CB-expects-marked-improvement-in-economy-this-year/245-205723