Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy recently stated that Sri Lanka’s macroeconomic policies were the opposite of those being practised by other countries. Additionally, he said the country had lost its standing in several social economic indicators since gaining independence as a result of difficulty in managing budget performance and unsustainable development.

Addressing the Experience Sharing Forum on Local Economic Development in Practice, he highlighted three challenges to be addressed through macroeconomic policies: government revenue as a percentage of GDP, concessional and non-concessional debt as a percentage of foreign debt, and merchandise exports as a percentage of GDP.

Moreover, Coomaraswamy asserted that the country’s revenue must be increased to address the budget deficit and noted that revenue should increase to 16.5 percent of GDP from the current 13.8 percent.