A drive under way in Sri Lanka to highlight sectors of the economy for investment and tackle the challenges that the country has faced in the first half of 2018 will be explored in a forthcoming report by the global research and consultancy firm Oxford Business Group (OBG).
The Report: Sri Lanka 2019 will chart the results of national efforts to attract investors to the country as part of the government’s broader bid to make the shift to an upper middle-income, knowledge-based economy.
There will be wide-ranging coverage of planned legislative reforms aimed at enhancing the country’s investment climate, which are expected to be announced in the forthcoming budget.
The publication will also consider the positive effect that free trade deals with key trading partners have had on the economy, enabling Sri Lanka to sharpen its focus on exports as a means of galvanising growth, which has felt the weight of rising levels of public debt over the past year. As part of its analysis, OBG will map out the measures introduced to help tackle the country’s debt levels.
First Capital Holdings PLC has signed a further memorandum of understanding (MoU) with OBG for its forthcoming publication. Under this fourth MoU, First Capital will help OBG to research and produce the Capital Markets chapter of The Report: Sri Lanka 2019.
Commenting after the signing, Dilshan Wirasekara, Director and CEO, First Capital, said that reports such as those produced by OBG were playing an essential role as a source of credible and independent information on Sri Lanka for both companies looking at expanding overseas and international investors eyeing the many openings available on local projects.
“We are confident that by focusing on the various opportunities emerging across Sri Lanka, Oxford Business Group’s report will play a substantial role in boosting local economic development and, in turn, facilitating robust levels of capital inflows to the island,” he said.
Nathan Thadani, OBG’s editorial manager in Sri Lanka, added that while the national economy had faced several challenges in the early part of 2018, ranging from political uncertainty, a slowdown in some reform initiatives and rising commodity prices, to the further depreciation of the Sri Lankan rupee, the outlook for the second half of the year appeared to be brighter.
“Forecasts point to a gradual pickup in business activity and consumer demand, which are expected to lead to higher GDP growth in the fourth quarter,” he said. “With any changes in activity across Sri Lanka’s capital markets also of significant interest to the business community, I’m delighted that we will once again benefit from the input of First Capital Holdings’ experts as we begin the next phase of our research on Sri Lanka’s economy.”
The Report: Sri Lanka 2019 will mark the culmination of more than six months of field research by a team of analysts from Oxford Business Group. It will be a vital guide to the many facets of the country, including its macroeconomics, infrastructure, banking and other sectoral developments. The publication will also contain interviews with leading members of the business community, including: Indrajit Coomaraswamy, Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka; Hiran Cooray, Chairman of Jetwing Hotels and Krishan Balendra, Deputy Chairman of John Keells Holdings.
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