Finally, Lankan economy records positive growth

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COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s bankrupt economy has recorded a positive growth for the first time since the economic crisis hit the island nation, according to official data.

“The year-on-year GDP growth rate for the third quarter has been reported as 1.6 per cent of positive growth rate,” the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) said in a press release on Friday.

Sri Lanka had recorded a -8% growth when it declared bankruptcy in April 2022. The country’s economy continued to be in the negative from the fourth quarter of 2021.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), which released the second tranche of its USD 2.9 billion bailout earlier this week, has said that Sri Lanka’s overall growth for 2023 would remain negative.