21513990
Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (official and national language) 18%, other 8%
Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte (legislative capital) 128,000 (2014); COLOMBO (capital) 707,000 (2015)
- Conventional long form
- Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
- Conventional short form
- Sri Lanka
- Local long form
- Shri Lanka Prajatantrika Samajavadi Janarajaya/Ilankai Jananayaka Choshalichak Kutiyarachu
- Local short form
- Shri Lanka/Ilankai
presidential republic
- Name
- Colombo
- Geographic coordinates
- 6 55 N, 79 50 E
- Time difference
- UTC+5.5 (10.5 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt
Sri Lanka is attempting to sustain economic growth while maintaining macroeconomic stability under an IMF program. The government's high debt payments and bloated civil service cadre, which have contributed to historically high budget deficits and low tax revenues, remain a concern. Government debt is about 77% of GDP and remains among the highest of the emerging markets.
- Inflation
- 3.728%
- External debt stocks
- US$ 43,920,151,000
- Total tax rate (% of commercial profits)
- 55.2%
- Real Interest Rate
- 6.525%
- Manufacturing, value added (% of GDP)
- 16.944%
- Current Account Balance
- US$ -2,008,522,862
- Labor Force, Total
- 8,292,494
- Employment in Agriculture
- 28.16%
- Employment in Industry
- 26.01%
- Employment in Services
- 45.23%
- Unemployment Rate
- 4.98%
- Imports of goods and services
- US$ 23,646,447,321
- Exports of goods and services
- US$ 17,438,283,795
- Total Merchandise Trade
- 36.31%
- FDI, net inflows
- US$ 681,238,956
- Commercial Service Exports
- US$ 6,365,963,005
rice, sugarcane, grains, pulses, oilseed, spices, vegetables, fruit, tea, rubber, coconuts; milk, eggs, hides, beef; fish
processing of rubber, tea, coconuts, tobacco and other agricultural commodities; telecommunications, insurance, banking; tourism, shipping; clothing, textiles; cement, petroleum refining, information technology services, construction
- Commodities
- textiles and apparel, tea and spices; rubber manufactures; precious stones; coconut products, fish
- Partners
- US 28.8%, UK 10.6%, India 6.6%, Germany 4.9%, Italy 4.5% (2015)
- Commodities
- petroleum, textiles, machinery and transportation equipment, building materials, mineral products, foodstuffs
- Partners
- India 28.3%, Japan 9.2%, UAE 7.1%, Singapore 6.1% (2015)
- Country Risk Rating
- B
- Political and economic uncertainties and an occasionally difficult business environment can affect corporate payment behavior. Corporate default probability is appreciable.
- Business Climate Rating
- B
- The business environment is mediocre. The availability and the reliability of corporate financial information vary widely. Debt collection can sometimes be difficult. The institutional framework has a few troublesome weaknesses. Intercompany transactions run appreciable risks in the unstable, largely inefficient environments rated B.
- Diversified agricultural production (tea, rice, coconuts, rubber)
- Reduction of poverty
- Human development and governance indicators higher than those of its South-East Asian neighbors
- Indian and Chinese interests
- Tourism growing strongly
- Marked dependence on the textile sector
- Lack of infrastructures
- Low levels of capital public spending because of the burden of debt servicing
- Vulnerability linked to dependence on short- term external funding
After showing a slight increase in 2016, growth is expected to remain firm in 2017. The industrial sector should remain well positioned despite the monetary tightening initiated by the Central Bank. Construction should continue to benefit from the development of tourist facilities and infrastructure which is profiting from a USD 3bn loan from the Asian Development Bank. Tourism growth is likely to continue driving the whole range of service activities, which now account for over 60% of GDP.
The government's efforts to restore the health of the public finances have, to date, not gone far enough. However, in 2017, the budget deficit and the public debt are expected to fall, thanks to the fiscal consolidation programme put in place jointly with the IMF. The priority of these reforms is, notably, to improve the collection of taxes. However, the public debt will remain high and the country's budget vulnerability will still be substantial.
2015 was marked by two elections which redrew the country's political landscape. To ensure his re-election for a 3rd term, President Rajapakse (Freedom Party) called early presidential elections in January 2015. Much to everyone's surprise, Maithripala Sirisena (former minister who joined the New Democratic Front following the announcement of elections) won the poll. Following the August 2015 parliamentary elections, Ranil Wickremesinghe (Freedom Party) became prime minister. Despite their wish to work together, numerous disagreements have surfaced between the prime minister and the president, both from different parties, and this alliance is fragile. 2017 will be marked by local elections which will test the unit of the prime minister's party.