Institute of National Security Studies (INSS), the premier think tank on national security established under the Ministry of Defence organized a Close Door Round Table Discussion on “Economic outlook for Sri Lanka in 2023-2024 – from economic crisis to recovery?”on Thursday, the 02nd of March 2023, from 1500hrs to 1630hrs (IST) via Zoom. The chair for this informative session was Rear Admiral Dimuthu Gunawardena RWP**, RSP, VSV, USP, nswc, psc, hdmc, Acting Director General and Director (Communications and Publications) of the Institute of National Security Studies (INSS). The three esteemed Guest Speakers for the event were Dr. P.K.G. Harischandra, Director, Economic Research Department, Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Prof. Priyanga Dunusinghe, Professor in Economics, Head, Department of Information Technology, University of Colombo and Dr. Dirk Willem te Velde, Director, International Economic Development Group, ODI Global, United Kingdom. This informative and timely session was moderated by Dr. Ganeshan Wignaraja, a Professorial Fellow in Economics and Trade at Gateway House in Mumbai and Senior Research Associate at ODI Global in London. The audience comprised of ministry officials, academics, researchers, policymakers, representatives from Sri Lanka Armed Forces and Police.
Subsequent to the introduction given by the moderator, the first speaker Dr. P.K.G. Harischandra commenced his presentation by explaining current status of inflation, GDP, trade deficit and fiscal deficits etc. In addition, he further elaborated on recent economic developments and anticipated improvements on the economy of Sri Lanka. Thereafter, he has emphasized the remarkable way forward in the current situation. Secondly, Dr. Dirk Willem te Velde delivered his presentation focused on the Lessons for Sri Lanka through international experience and elaborated the bird eye view of the situation. Corollary, he has given valuable insights on policy challenges for the growth in Sri Lanka. Finally, Prof. Priyanga Dunusinghe, spoke about Policies for inclusive growth in Sri Lanka. He has critically analyzed the Sri Lanka’s predicament and suggested a way forward towards the recovery. Following up, several timely related questions under the discussed topic of concern were posed by the audience in the Q and A segment, where each speaker was directed with a question as per their topic of discussion. The speakers responded constructively along with adequate facts as well as realistic concerns of the current context.
