CBSL’s 73rd Annual Report released

The 73rd Annual Report of the Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka was presented yesterday to President and Finance Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe by Dr. P Nandalal Weerasinghe, the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan economy faced its most onerous year in its post-independence history in 2022, comprising severe economic hardship that led to both public anxiety and political upheaval. The impoverished conditions in the economy warranted immediate and coordinated policy initiatives by the Government and the Central Bank to preempt a further escalation of the situation.

Although the corrective measures affected the vast citizenry in the near term, they were necessary to safeguard the economy and economic agents from potentially devastating consequences of unrestrained economic instability, such as hyperinflation, collapse of economic activity to a much deeper level, and a complete disconnect of the country from the rest of the world, with far worse consequences to the people and businesses.

The outcomes of these efforts have eventuated since late 2022. The country managed to transition to a workable equilibrium in the near term, focused on restoring socio-economic stability, while the envisaged assistance from the international financial institutions begins to materialise.