First Quarter growth of 4.3% recorded-by Mahinda Aluthgedara

Department of Census and Statistics

Source:Dailynews

Despite the impact from the COVID-19 pandemic, Sri Lanka’s economy grew 4.3 per cent in the first quarter of this year.

According to the Department of Census and Statistics, the economy grew by 4.3 percent in the first quarter of 2021 compared to a negative growth rate of 1.8 percent in the first quarter of 2020.

The Department of Census and Statistics released estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and other macroeconomic indicators at current prices and fixed prices (2010) under the Product Process for the period from January 1 to March 31, 2021. The second wave of the Covid pandemic which started in October 2020, is expected to have an impact on economic activity in the first quarter of 2021.

The Department noted that many businesses and economies continued to operate despite the restrictions imposed by the second wave of the Covid wave, and that the conduct of many economies remained at a satisfactory level throughout the first quarter of 2021, with the new normalization of people’s lives in the midst of the epidemic.

According to the Department of Census and Statistics, the country’s economic growth in the first quarter of this year is estimated to bounce back in line with the GDP growth in the first quarter of 2020.