COLOMBO, March 16, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Sri Lanka's economy rebounded strongly in
the fourth quarter of 2023 from the island nation's unprecedented financial
crisis as tourism arrivals rose, the government said Saturday.

Agriculture, industries and services boosted the expansion to 4.5 percent in
the December quarter compared to a 12.4 percent contraction a year earlier,
the census and statistics department said.

It added however that the economy shrank by 2.4 percent overall during 2023
compared to a contraction of 7.8 percent in 2022, when the country defaulted
on its $46 billion foreign debt.

"Sri Lanka's economy experienced some kind of duality in 2023," the
department said in a statement, noting that the first half of the year
recorded negative growth while the economy bounced back in the second.

"The long-awaited boom in tourism came towards the end of the year," the
department said, adding that worker remittances too had improved.

The number of tourists visiting the South Asian nation jumped to 210,000 in
December, more than double the 91,900 a year earlier.

Sri Lanka is currently drawing down a four-year $2.9 billion bailout loan
from the International Monetary Fund and is in talks with foreign creditors
over a debt restructure.

The peak of the economic crisis in 2022 saw months of food, fuel and
pharmaceutical shortages after the island ran out of foreign exchange to pay
for imports.

The resulting civil unrest forced the ouster of then-president Gotabaya
Rajapaksa when protesters stormed his residence in July of that year.

His successor Ranil Wickremesinghe has doubled taxes, withdrawn generous
energy subsidies and raised prices of essentials to shore up state revenue.