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  Can Sri Lanka Overcome Regional Income Inequalities? – Written by IPS Research Team Although Sri Lanka has managed to reduce income poverty from 26.1 percent in 1990/91 to 4.1 percent by 2016, income inequality has remained unchanged for more than four decades. The richest 20 percent enjoy more than half the total household income of the country, while the poorest 20 percent get only 5 percent. The situation of the poorest 10 percent of the households is worse, with the share of household income being just 1.8 percent or less. Furthermore, income gaps between different regions are even wider than the income inequality at the national level. Recognizing the importance of reducing these income gaps, the 2030 Agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has given high priority to curbing inequality, both as a standalone goal as well as a cross-cutting issue. The success of most of the SDGs will depend ...