Sri Lanka's Remittances Up despite Global economic downturn 10 jan 2012

10 Jan 2012. (0:00) Sri Lanka is banking on huge increases in Foreign remittances from its nationals working abroad and searched in tourism despite the global economic downturn this years the CB said. The Island which is recovering from the three decades of separatist war is expecting worker remittances to top US dollars 6.5 billion in this year (20120) an up from an estimated $ 5.12 bn in 2011, $ 4.1bn in 2010) the central bank said in an statement. www.youtube.com (0:35) Some 1.7 mn Sri Lankans employed abroad are making foreign remittance, the main source of foreign rexchange to the country of 20 mn people. In the third quarter of 2011, GDP grew by 8.4 per cent, with all three sectors, Agriculture, Industry and Services, contributing towards that growth performance. GDP growth in 2011 is estimated to be around 8.3 per cent. In the meantime, the significant structural changes that have taken place in the Sri Lankan economy over the last several years are expected to provide the momentum for the economy to grow by about 8 per cent in 2012, even in the midst of the slowdown in global economic activity. Continued development efforts aimed at improving economic and social infrastructure are expected to augment the productive capacity of the country and thereby enable the realisation of the country's growth potential. Improvements in infrastructure would also help eliminate supply bottlenecks, thus helping to reduce price pressures. As inflation is expected to remain around ...

View Count: 12 Date: January 11, 2012