The Sri Lanka Economic Summit in July

The Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2012 on the theme “Positioning Sri Lanka in the global economy” will be held from July 10 to 12 at the Cinnamon Grand, Colombo. The first session of the event titled “Sri Lankan Economy in Perspective” is scheduled to take place from 9.00 am to 11.0 am on 11 July 2012.

The Sri Lankan economy retained the growth momentum in 2011 with a GDP growth rate of 8.3% mainly supported by the industry and service sectors. A greater upsurge was evident in investments with Private sector investments rising by over 2% of GDP. Both indicators moved in tandem with the Government’s targets of enhancing investment and growth.

However, an overvalued exchange rate and low interest rates led to acceleration of imports and widening of the trade deficit in the latter half of last year. The currency was defended by use of external reserves. The worsening external payments position and dwindling reserves necessitated the Government to introduce extensive policy changes.

These together with further weakening of the world output growth will lead to a moderation in growth and investment in the current year. A consistent policy framework that can also address the weaknesses of the macroeconomic environment in the country is a prerequisite to attract good investments and sustain investor confidence. This session will review the current macroeconomic position in Sri Lanka and deliberate the policy framework that is desired for future economic progress.

The keynote address of the session will be delivered by Dr. P. B. Jayasundera, Secretary to the Treasury & Secretary, Ministry of Economic Development. It will be followed by a panel discussion by Dr. Koshy Mathai, IMF Resident Representative for Sri Lanka and Maldives, Rajendra Theagarajah, Managing Director/CEO, Hatton National Bank, Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya, Group Chief Executive Officer, Dialog Axiata, Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, Former Deputy Director, Secretary General’s Office, Commonwealth Secretariat, Dr. Saman Kelegama, Executive Director, Institute of Policy Studies and Alois Hofbauer, Managing Director, Nestlé Lanka. The session will be moderated by Faizal Salieh, Managing Director, Amana Investments.

More information and registration for the Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2012 could be obtained from Ceylon Chamber of Commerce [email protected].