THE COVID ECONOMY It came as no surprise when the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) announced in mid-March that Sri Lanka’s economy contracted by 3.6 percent last year although few nations across the globe have been spared the wrath of the pandemic. The good news however, is that the vicissitudes of the protracted curfew in the second quarter of 2020 led to a turnaround of sorts with growth returning to the picture in the second half of the year albeit at a somewhat meagre 1.3 percent. That this result came about despite the emergence of a second wave of COVID-19 and amid continued turmoil in a majority of our trading partner nations is commendable. And with business confidence stabilising since the dawn of the new year, there’s a ray of hope and light at the end of the dark tunnel. It remains to be seen whether this newfound momentum can and will be maintained – and to this end, it goes without saying that the ongoing immunisation programme holds the key to Sri Lanka returning to anything like ‘business as usual’ in the months ahead.