Sri Lanka’s economy contracts by 1.6% in first quarter of 2022

(FASTNEWS | COLOMBO) – The economy of Sri Lanka contracted by 1.6 % in the first quarter of the year 2022, the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) says.

In a press release, the DCS said “the year-on-year Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate for the first quarter of the year 2022 is estimated as negative 1.6 percent which indicated a considerable contraction of the economy compared to the first quarter of 2021.”

At the beginning of 2022, the Sri Lankan economy began to improve slowly, following a difficult period of time due to the Covid-19 pandemic in the 2020 and 2021, with new expectations of economic recovery, the statement read further.

However, unfortunately, within the first quarter of 2022, the economic growth rate was reported to slow down compared to the first quarters of 2021, as a result of the adverse effects of some factors such as inflation, foreign exchange devaluation and dollar deficit, the DCS explained.