Business

Ruchir Sharma urges Sri Lanka to spring a ‘surprise on the upside’ to catch foreign investors’ eye

Published

3 years ago

2024/01/8

Sahan Weerasooriya

Ruchir Sharma

By Sanath Nanayakkare

When a country is in an economic crisis, it creates an environment conducive to implementing economic reforms which would be difficult to do in good times, however, it still depends on how far the reformist leaders can shape the opinion of the people and the people’s willingness to take those reforms on board, Rockefeller International Chairman and Breakout Capital Founder/ CIO Ruchir Sharma said in Colombo recently.

He made this comment while delivering a public lecture at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka where Sharma shared key insights from his newest book, ‘The 10 Rules of Successful Nations’, illustrating what Sri Lanka can do to catch the eye of indifferent foreign investors.

“At a time of crisis, when a new reformist leader is elected to navigate the country through it, the reforms will be painful in the beginning. If the people say,” Okay, go ahead and do something to contain the crisis, that’s fine. That happened in Greece and today the country is a shining star in Europe. But what happened in Argentina was different as the people didn’t want to go ahead with reforms despite the crisis,” he said.

In this book, Sharma delves deep into 10 rules and areas of growth which are namely; demographics, politics, state, debt, currency, investment, inflation geography, inequality and sentiment. He said that he has given his weightings to the above rules from the perspective of an investor looking at a country’s investment outlook.

The following are some select excerpts from his speech particularly indicating where Sri Lanka is ranked on his 10 rules.

Rule 1- Demographics

“We noticed Sri Lanka’s working age population is projected to grow in the next 5-10 years at only 0.1% a year. That is a very low level. This means you need to do something else to offset it. It is very difficult for Sri Lanka to grow at a rate of more than 6% when your working age population is only growing at 0.1% unless it relies on immigration, automation or increase the retirement age of the labour force.”

Rule 2 –Politics

“Most countries carry out painful economic reforms only when they hit a crisis because the population is also ready to back the reformer. Even India made reforms under crisis. Sri Lanka is going to have elections this year and I don’t know which way people are going to be voting. However, implementing economic reforms and maintaining fiscal stability in the foreseeable future would be crucial for any political party that comes to power.”

Rule 3- State

“We have noticed Sri Lanka’s spending as a share of GDP is now under control. Spending is not the problem. But taxes as a share of GDP are very low in Sri Lanka.”

Rule 4- Debt

“Greece was in crisis and today it is a growing economy in Europe. They followed the right policies and got the debt under control and capitalized on tourism and exports to boost the economy. Sri Lanka can take a smooth and continuous trajectory down this path.”

Rule 5- Currency

“Sri Lankan currency ranks pretty well because it is very cheap in the eyes of investors which is at present stable and effective”.

Rule 6- Investment

Successful countries have investments as a share of their GDP of about 25-35% .That is the sweet spot. And more successful countries have a manufacturing base with a share of their GDP at about 20% or so. Sri Lanka is in the middle in this aspect.

Rule 7- Inflation

Sri Lanka has a success story on containing inflation because of reigning in monetary expansion and having a good monetary policy framework. Most central bankers are stuck in the old framework and focus a lot on consumer price increases. But we also need to consider asset price inflation (property prices), stock prices as well. If those too increase and are backed by a lot of debt financing, that could pose a problem.

Rule 8- Geography

Sri Lanka is on the right trade route but has not fully exploited it. Also, the growth isn’t spread out internally. So much of the population and growth activity are concentrated in Colombo area and the country needs to think about new cities or new urban centres.

Rule 9- Inequality

Too much inequality is not great for a country. But Sri Lanka is not affected by this as the country has few billionaires.

Rule 10- Sentiment

Countries which are in a crisis mode are the ones that carry out economic reforms and Sri Lanka can gain approval in this exercise.

“Generally Sri Lanka ranks relatively well from an investor’s perspective as there is a big improvement over the last couple of years. Now the talking point is what is going to happen on the political front. And once that is settled, Sri Lanka needs to determine its growth engine. The classic growth engine for Sri Lanka would be manufacturing-for- exports to enable rapid increase in per capita income.”

Sounding direct without being ruthless, Sharma said at the conclusion that the world’s investor community is indifferent to Sri Lanka and they don’t talk much about Sri Lanka as their expectations about the country are low.

However, he urged Sri Lanka to capitalize on its potential and spring a surprise on the upside to catch the investors’ eye.

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Related Topics:Rockefeller International Ruchir Sharma

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Business

India-Sri Lanka Foundation’s 41st meeting signals a new era of integration

Published

10 hours ago

2026/09/2

Sahan Weerasooriya

High Commissioners Santosh Jha and Mahishini Colonne chaired the 41st India-Sri Lanka Foundation meeting in New Delhi, highlighting ongoing bilateral cooperation across cultural, economic, and infrastructure sectors.

By Sanath Nanayakkare

On the surface, the 41st Board Meeting of the India-Sri Lanka Foundation (ISLF) in New Delhi on August 28, 2026, was structured as a routine diplomatic engagement. Co-chaired by Indian High Commissioner Santosh Jha and Sri Lankan High Commissioner Mahishini Colonne, the session formally approved a standard slate of cultural and educational projects.

However, looking closer at the broader macroeconomic and geopolitical landscape, the meeting underscored a much deeper structural alignment between the two nations. Against a backdrop of ongoing economic recovery, bilateral discussions increasingly touch upon critical areas of regional integration, investment, and infrastructure.

Among the key areas attracting attention are post-civil war reconciliation efforts and administrative milestones in the Northern Province.

Discussions in diplomatic circles continue to focus on the progressive release of state-held lands back to civilian inhabitants, alongside the anticipated finalization of provincial council elections to support local governance frameworks.

In the economic sphere, commercial integration remains a central theme as Sri Lanka stabilizes its foreign exchange reserves.

Recent financial dialogues in Colombo were seen exploring mechanisms such as transacting in Indian Rupees (INR), aligning with wider regional efforts to facilitate bilateral trade settlements and mitigate foreign currency pressures. Financial institutions, including the State Bank of India, continue to support these bilateral trade facilitation mechanisms.

Cooperation in the energy sector is also progressing through key joint ventures aimed at harnessing renewable resources. Proposals such as the 200MW solar power project in Sampur, developed via a partnership between NTPC and the Ceylon Electricity Board, highlight ongoing efforts to diversify national power generation. Discussions concerning cross-border grid interconnections further reflect strategies to enhance regional energy security and optimize renewable capacity.

At the same time, ongoing reviews of project tariffs – such as those involving renewable initiatives by firms like Adani Green Energy – demonstrate the government’s focus on balancing capital investments with domestic economic interests.

As the ISLF marks decades of supporting bilateral cultural exchanges through hundreds of initiatives, the overarching partnership between New Delhi and Colombo continues to evolve. Navigating these complex frameworks of trade, energy, and development remains essential as Sri Lanka charts its economic future within the South Asian region.

Business

Sysco LABS named one of Sri Lanka’s Most Outstanding Women-Friendly Workplaces for 2026

Published

10 hours ago

2026/09/2

Sahan Weerasooriya

At the far left and far right, respectively: Ruchini Weerawardena, Senior Manager – Talent Management and Development, and Tashiya Jayatilaka, Team Lead – People Operations accepting the award on behalf of Sysco LABS.

Sysco LABS, the Global Innovation Center of Sysco, has been named one of Sri Lanka’s Most Outstanding Women-Friendly Workplaces at the Women-Friendly Workplace Awards 2026, marking its highest recognition at the awards to date.

The recognition represents an important milestone in Sysco LABS’ ongoing journey to build a workplace where women are supported not only to enter and participate in the technology industry, but to develop, progress and build meaningful long-term careers.

Held recently, the 2026 awards organized by Satynmag continued a six-year journey of recognizing and encouraging organizations to move beyond intention towards meaningful and measurable progress for women at work. This year’s awards placed particular emphasis on a defining question for women-friendly workplaces: beyond representation, how far are women able to go?

This win also reflects a progression in the company’s recognition journey at the Women Friendly Workplaces Awards. Following an “Honorable Mention” in the 2023 edition of the ceremony while winning a special award for “Best Women in STEM Project” in 2025, 2026 marks the first time Sysco LABS has been recognized as one of Sri Lanka’s Most Outstanding Women-Friendly Workplaces.

Business

CCPI-based headline inflation accelerates in August 2026

Published

10 hours ago

2026/09/2

Sahan Weerasooriya

The Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI, 2021=100) based headline inflation (year-on-year, Y-o-Y) increased to 8.0% in August 2026 from 7.3% in July 2026, primarily due to the statistical base effect in food inflation. Meanwhile, food inflation (Y-o-Y) increased to 8.5% in August 2026 from 6.3% in July 2026, contributing mainly to the increase in headline inflation, while non-food inflation (Y-o-Y) decelerated to 7.7% in August 2026 from 7.8% in July 2026.

On a month-on-month basis, the CCPI increased by 0.28% in August 2026. This increase was mainly driven by the food category, which contributed 0.20 percentage point, largely owing to the increase in prices of Milk Powder, while the non-food category contributed a marginal 0.07 percentage point.

Meanwhile, core inflation (Y-o-Y) accelerated to 5.1% in August 2026 from 4.4% in July 2026.

According to the inflation projections made at the monetary policy round in July 2026, headline inflation is expected to remain above the target of 5% in the near term, before easing and stabilising around the target over the medium term, supported by appropriate policy measures. These projections are conditional, among other assumptions, on the expectation that the effects of the tensions in the Middle East and their spillovers will be temporary and gradually dissipate.