Governor predicts Per Capita Income will reach $3,000 next year

Amila Prabath Wanasinghe and Hidogama group cor

Sri Lanka's Per Capita Income will reach US $ 3,000 next year despite reservations expressed by cynics, Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal said.

Ajith Nivard Cabraal

He said the Per Capita Income which was US $ 1,400 in 2006 increased to US $ 2,836 this year.

The Governor said this when he addressed a meeting after opening a branch of the People's Merchant Finance Company at Anuradhapura New Town last week. Cabraal said the massive development projects underway throughout the country is one factor which will contribute towards the increase in the Per Capita Income.

"President Mahinda Rajapaksa when he assumed duties decided that development should encompass the whole country without being restricted to one region only. The massive development schemes underway in the rural areas helped revive agriculture and other pursuits and substantially increase the income of rural folk," the Governor said.

He said in 2005, the Western Province accounted for 57 percent of the GDP but today it has dropped to 45 percent because the rural sector has come in as a new player.

Cabraal said as such, a major transformation will occur in the country's economic sector in another five years on account of the development programmes being implemented.