The Asian Development Bank (ADB), is coordinating closely with the UN and members of the International Community and looking for any options for assisting and supporting Sri Lanka, Hun Kim, Director General, South Asia(SARD) told the Daily News Business yesterday.
He said that although at present they were yet in the dark of the aftermath of terrorist attacks, the immediate concerns of the ADB was the impact on the country’s economy and specially the impact on investor confidence over Sri Lanka.
Kim said that Sri Lanka was facing a big challenge in terms of the external situation and so far, the progress has been satisfactory with regard to the IMF program. “So, we hope that whatever happens, it would not affect the positive direction of the country.
The Director General however, said that the ADB’s level of support wound depend on the final interpretation of the shocks the Lankan economy had really faced. As a development bank, the ADB would be amicably closer to the Sri Lankan Government when the country is in a critical situation, which had always been the case, he said. Kim said they were assessing the situation and would be there to assist the Sri Lankan Government at their hour of need. Meanwhile, Yasuyuki Sawada, Chief Economist, Economic Research and Regional Cooperation (ERCD), expressed optimism that the Lankan economy could still achieve the 3.6 GDP growth rate focused by the ADB for year 2019, despite the recent setbacks. “Sri Lanka’s economy has been growing continuously with robust industry, agriculture, service sectors and a strong domestic consumption,” he said. Sawada therefore expressed optimism that the economy would be able withstand the recent shocks and achieve its growth target in 2019.
He also said that South Asia achieved an economic growth of 7% in 2018, making it the world’s fastest growing region.
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