Talk:Economy of Sri Lanka

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Standard[edit]

I updated economic statistics, but while doing that I noticed this page doesn't seem up to standard, maybe someone with more skill can bring it up to date and on par with Wikipedia standard. CooldogCongo add — Preceding unsigned comment added by 43.250.240.114 (talk) 04:32, 26 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Remove content that has no substance[edit]

Some content in this article has not substance and provide little or no value to some one interested in learning about progression of Sri Lanka's economy and where it is today. This wikipedia article even though is about Economy of Sri Lanka, some of it's content is neither can be described as economic policy nor can be described as anything of significance.

For instance let's look at following section that gets repeatedly added.

"According to Government policies and economic reforms proposed by Prime Minister and Minister of National Policy and economic affair Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lanka plans to create a knowledge based social market economy and an export-oriented economy as well as the Western Region Megapolis a Megapolis in the western province to rival Dubai and Singapore with a financial hub in Colombo. Creation of several business and technology development areas specialized in various sectors island wide as well as tourism zones in a planned manner is also being planned.[12] The government is also planning on regaining GSP+ trade concessions as well as joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership(TPP)."

  • Sri Lanka plans to create a knowledge based social market economy - Social market economy is not a policy it is a system. A government can set policies to have a social market economy more or less to it's liking. However Sri Lanka has embraced this system of economy long before current prime minister, with things such as free education from elementary level to university, universal healthcare, government managed retirement schemes etc. while embracing free market economics in other parts of it's system and that's why there are private telecos, logistic companies, healthcare providers, schools etc. in Sri Lanka. To whoever keeps adding this line FYI Social market economy is not a policy but a system and it's written all over Sri Lanka even in the name "Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka " which essentially means Sri Lanka is politically a social democracy. Social democracies typically embrace social market economy (Scandinavian countries).
  • Sri Lanka plans to create an export-oriented economy - In this case "Sri Lanka becoming an EOI" is a policy goal. Now the question is what fiscal and monitory policies (economic policies) does the government of Wickramasinghe has? Without that this is just an empty statement. This is a policy goal of almost every developing country and to varying degree of success throughout decades this has been a policy goal of government of Sri Lanka. So there is nothing new unless there is something new with respect to economic policy (fiscal, monetary) and use of policy tools by new Prime Minister. If there are please include them with citations.
  • Western Region Megapolis a Megapolis in the western province: This has nothing to do with economy. A megapolis or a megalopolis is a chain of metropolitan areas such as the northeast megalopolis in the US (Boston, NYC, Philadelphia and Washington D.C.) or Nairobi in Kenya. A megalopolis elsewhere in the world is a product of economic activity rather than economic activity being a product of a megalopolis. In other words this part is better suited in some place where Sri Lanka's urban development projects are described. Also looking at what's on the ground (City of Colombo) rivaling Dubai and Singapore as mentioned is a far cry; at it's best it sounds like sentimental bull crap at it's worst it's an embarrassment. In other words it's just Wikipedia unworthy rhetoric.
  • The government is also planning on regaining GSP+ trade concessions as well as joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership(TPP). This is relevant in this article but in a trade policy section as a side note and strictly not where it is today. I repeat as a side note because Sri Lanka has neither regained GSP+ nor it has entered TPP at the time of this writing. Things which are just ideas, proposals etc. should not take prime or prominent space of an article.

The piece on ceasefire which carries about 25%+ of the history section is rhetoric. First thing is that period doesn't count for 25% of the economic history of Sri Lanka. Secondly all the minute details of it's small economic benefits (compared to 2016) deserves a place in Wikipedia article on Sri Lanka ceasefire rather than here.

In my opinion this article needs to be restructured. It does not have much a flow to it and filled with petty details and rhetorics written by either ignorant or politically motivated. This task should be left for those who are knowledgable in economics, others please stay away without embarrassing their fellow countrymen. A better structure would be splitting the timeline into different eras (sections) and under each section economic policy, trade policy, policy goals and tools can be discussed in a politically neutral manner (such as not making allegations, or saying that political party X does this better). Also adding graphs and more tables would become a worthwhile effort.

Boston7 (talk) 20:25, 27 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

First warning " This task should be left for those who are knowledgable in economics, others please stay away without embarrassing their fellow countrymen " If you have this kind of mentality you shouldn't become an wikipedia editor.I recomend you staying away and writing newspapers or blogs instead. The so called 'Rhetoric' is the official policy statement and was added here to replace the policies of the former government.As seen here .As you see here there is no need to explain the fiscal or monetary policies. The goals and the main economic policy alone is enough. There is no thing called it needs to happen to be added. Something that is proposed can be added as well if you see the previous governments propodals. Just becuase your personal WP:POV doesn't like the ceasefire. You can't delete it. You can expand but not remove. This article is out of referenced content and you remove well referenced content and the references just becuase of POV issues.
You have been constantly removing a reference just to back your own view with the pathetic excuse that the time frame covers 25% of the section. 1 2.
You have also broken the three revert rule. and could have been blocked from editing if you were reported. You got a chance because you are a new member but this is the first and last warning. IF there are any isues I will restructure the artile and I recomend you to avoid removing content freely- UmdP 00:42, 28 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Nonsense, you haven't answered the points I have raised, instead you are threatening me with a warning. So let me raise the questions again...
  1. When did Sri Lanka set economic policies that are favorable for a social market economy for the first time? Is this a new discovery by current prime minister? had it been the case for decades does it make sense to say that Ranil Wickramasinge lead government made this policy?
  2. "Western Region Megapolis a Megapolis in the western province to rival Dubai and Singapore with a financial hub in Colombo" Why do you think this article needs this statement? what is it's contribution to overall quality of this article? if you think this is of any value, please explain.
  3. Regaining GSP+ trade concessions as well as joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership(TPP). These are just proposals. How many thousand different ideas have PMs and presidents of Sri Lanka have had? are you going to document them all here? if not why? why do you think a side note is not just enough?
Don't throw that WP:POV crap at me. Where were your citations when making a claim that this UNP is pro-capitalist and and SLFP is socialist, where were your citations when talking about corruption of former president. You sound like a spokesperson of a political party but not ashamed of throwing WP:POV at other people, that's called bigotry. Boston7 (talk) 06:06, 28 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Its not 'nonsense'. Constructive edits are welcome but several of your edits arent constructive. You claim that you are an economic expert but doesnt know the difference between Social market economy and Socialism. I have not threatened anyone. I warned you for your clear violations of wikipedia guidelines. You haven't reduced the sentences to increase the quality of articles but remove content entirely alongside the sources. I will restructure or remove those sentences but thats all that can be done. No one is documenting all policies and goals of every government. You are making me repeat the same thing all over. I clearly showed you how the Previous governments policies were replaced in this page and even gave the link to the edit.
I have NOT claimed that the UNP is or SLFP is Pro-Anything. Those things dont work in Wikipedia as every thing is recorded. I warn you again not make up nonsense like that. That is "bigotry". If you consider Wikipedia guidlines 'crap' then please do not edit here. Making up stories wont help you -UmdP 06:21, 28 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]


Update needed[edit]

this needs updating - says "2003 looks to be a promising year" etc . I've added a tag Steve-Ho 15:46, 29 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

This page says 'ongoing war' but the war has ended. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.43.52.133 (talk) 04:25, 20 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Well cited content being removed[edit]

Content cited by washington post is being be removed with a false claim thats its POV. Please at least discuss and come to a consensus with everyone else on the talkpage. Sinhala freedom 01:18, 16 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah well cited with bullshit and screwy statics. You can say things as your mind desires in Tamil Wikipedia. But at this time you are in the wrong place!! --♪♫ ĽąĦĩŘǔ ♫♪ walkie-talkie 04:56, 16 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
How is cited material of a RS bullshit ? How is this screwy ? Please do not blank cited material. Thanks Watchdogb 00:01, 17 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The content of your so called RS is totally unrelated with your addition. --♪♫ ĽąĦĩŘǔ ♫♪ walkie-talkie 14:25, 17 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Please tell me where ? If you can't or don't then you merely blanking content just to be disruptive. Sinhala freedom 14:31, 17 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
You still keep reverting and don't point out what you claim to be false. Sinhala freedom 17:27, 18 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Reply at Talk:Sri_Lanka#Blanking_by_user_snowolfd4 --♪♫ ĽąĦĩŘǔ ♫♪ walkie-talkie 17:44, 18 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
You haven't replied in either locations. Sinhala freedom 18:12, 18 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
You can't be incorrectly tagging things without give pinpoint reasons of what sentence you have a problem with. Sinhala freedom 21:58, 22 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I don't understand whats the problem with the content. Its well sourced to reliable sources including washingtonpost and LBO. Btw, snowolfd4 you have never discussed any of your changes here. Sinhala freedom 01:36, 13 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Page protected[edit]

Since there was never a resolution of this issue, and the months-old edit war has begun anew, I've protected The Wrong Version of this page for 1 week, or until you can come to some agreement. This is not an endorsement of the current version, etc. Please be civil and avoid being needless inflammatory on this page. --Haemo 01:55, 13 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

History and overview[edit]

I created a new section of History and overview in order to separate it from the long lead as well as to move the table of contents up in the article. Is everyone OK with this? Let me know.
Thanks. SWik78 (talk) 18:22, 1 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

History and overview[edit]

Foreign exchange reserves, which fell by 11% in 1999, decreased further in 2000. In response, the government floated the rupee on January 23, 2001. This led to a significant nominal depreciation in 2001, but the rupee has since stabilized and reserves have gradually been replenished.

The year 2003 is poised to be another eventful year for Sri Lanka. Continued peace has allowed further progress on macroeconomic stabilization during the first half of the year. Economic growth has picked up to 5.5% in the first quarter, from 0.5% in the comparable period in 2002. This growth was largely driven by the services sector (particularly telecom and tourism), and the industrial sector posted modest growth. Both exports and imports have risen 13% in the first 4 months. Interest rates are declining. The inflation rate hovers around 9%. External reserves were sufficient to cover 5.1 months of imports. The Colombo Stock Exchange has rebounded to become one of the better performers in the area. The CSE rose 45% in 2002 and hit a record high in June 2003 as business confidence continued to expand. Fortunately, the SARS epidemic did not spread to Sri Lanka, and tourism was not severely affected. Sri Lanka's garment exporters reported a surge in orders, shifted from China due to SARS. On the negative side, in mid-2003 Sri Lanka experienced its worst floods in 50 years, which caused extensive damage in south and southwestern parts of the country. The government is relying on donor funding to reconstruct the flood-damaged areas, avoiding recourse to government finances. The adverse impact from floods on overall growth for 2003 is estimated to be marginal.

Economic recovery is expected to consolidate during the rest of 2003, and GDP growth for the year is predicted at 5.5%, increasing to 6.5% in 2004. All major sectors of the economy are expected to expand. This growth will, however, depend on the continuation of the peace process, policy adjustments (particularly budgetary control), and structural reforms. Recovery in the global economy also is important as well as effective aid utilization. According to the Finance Minister, the fiscal deficit is forecast to decline to 7.5% of GDP in 2003, with the government instituting more controls on fiscal management. Given Sri Lanka's high debt burden (105% of GDP), fiscal consolidation is central to budget planning and macroeconomic programming. Stagnant government revenue, however, remains a big worry in 2003.

The future of Sri Lanka's economic health is uncertain but largely dependent on the continuation of the peace process, political stability, and continued policy reforms--particularly in the area of fiscal discipline and direct management. Implementation of major reforms in the civil service and education sectors and more disciplined spending and improved revenue collection would help generate stronger economic growth. If privatization continues and export orientation strengthens, weaknesses in government will have less impact on growth. Real growth is expected to continue in the 4%-6% range beyond 2003 but may remain below the 8%-9% growth needed to move quickly into the status of a middle-income or newly developed country.

Other challenges include diversification from Sri Lanka's key exports--tea and garments. Garment exports will face increased competition in a quota-free era when the Multi Fiber Arrangement expires in 2005. The future of the tea industry is threatened by a shortage of plantation labor and growing competition. There are new efforts to diversify exports, explore tourism potential, and improve competitiveness. The government has an ambitious information and communications technology strategy to connect and service every corner of the country. This project, if implemented successfully, could change Sri Lanka's economy and social fabric and would take it into the information age. The government hopes to take advantage of Sri Lanka's strategic location on shipping routes, make use of the Indo-Lanka Free Trade Agreement, and sign free trade agreements with other countries to achieve regional trading hub status. If peace returns and all these efforts bear fruit, real growth could be in the 6%-7% range beyond 2004, and will help realize the government's intention of making Sri Lanka the gateway to South Asia.

The service sector is the largest component, accounting for of 54% GDP. In 2003, the service sector continued its strong expansion, fueled primarily by strong growth in telecom and financial services. Public administration and defense expenditures have remained steady. Repatriated earnings of Sri Lankans working abroad continued to be strong. Tourism continues to be a significant contributor to this sector as well, although it has not reached full potential due to continued worries about the conflict. There also is a small but growing information technology sector, especially information technology training and software development and exports.

Manufacturing accounts for about 15.9% of GDP. The textile, apparel, and leather products sector is the largest, accounting for 44% of total industrial output. The second largest industrial sector, at 24% of total manufacturing output, is food, beverages, and tobacco (this sector grew by 4.6% in 2002). The third-largest industrial sector is chemical, petroleum, rubber, and plastic products--16% of output, with 5.7% growth in 2002.

Agriculture has lost its relative importance to the Sri Lankan economy in recent decades. It accounts for 20.1% of GDP and provides employment to 33% of the working population. Rice, the staple cereal, is cultivated extensively. The plantation sector consists of tea, rubber, and coconut; in recent years, the tea crop has made significant contributions to export earnings and saw production increases of about 5% in 2002. Tea prices have continued to decline due to record world tea output in recent years. The construction sector accounts for 7.4% of GDP and mining and quarrying 1.8%. In recent years, the government has eliminated many price controls and quotas, reduced tariff levels, eliminated most foreign exchange controls, and sold more than 55 state-owned companies and 20 estate-holding companies. Colombo boasts one of the most modern stock exchanges in the region, and the Sri Lankan Government offers a range of tax and other incentives to attract potential investors.

I moved this section temporarily. --Lanka07 (talk) 16:51, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

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Trading Partner Factbox Inaccuracies[edit]

Trading Partner information is inconsistent with information found here - http://ciaworldfactbook.us/asia/sri-lanka

Imports and Exports are listed as such:

Exports: $8.135 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.) Exports - partners: US 23.2%, UK 11.1%, India 10.2%, Belgium 4.7%, Germany 4.5%, Italy 4.1% (2007)

Imports: $10.36 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.) Imports - partners: India 22%, China 11.9%, Singapore 7.2%, Iran 6.2% (2007)

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Vandalised[edit]

This page has been vandalised. I tried to revert it but it seems to be slightly more complex to undo. I’m not a wiki contributor. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 14.203.198.30 (talk) 07:59, 6 June 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I reverted fully and Blocked indefinitely. Thanks for helping out, IP. El_C 08:03, 6 June 2020 (UTC)[reply]

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