Analyzing the Impact of COVID-19 on Sri Lankan Economy

Abstract

COVID-19 is the communicable disease caused by the most recently discovered Corona virus. This disease was unknown to the world until the first case was identified in Wuhan, China and then it started spreading all over the world. Because of this situation the World Health Organization declared a global emergency condition due to the widespread of COVID-19 across the globe. More than 200 countries’ economy was affected by this COVID-19 pandemic. The countries which have been affected by COVID-19 are looking for a safety precaution while a few countries are doing a research to find the specific vaccine against Corona virus but now the situation has gone out of hand due to the lack of awareness and management. The present study comprehensively examines the impacts of COVID-19 on Sri Lankan economy. This study includes the impact of COVID-19 on GDP of Sri Lankan and how it has been reduced in this pandemic situation. However when comparing the GDP of Sri Lanka with the average South Asia countries it is lower than the average of South Asian countries. COVID-19 pandemic has affected the Employment in Sri Lanka as well. Sectors like hotel and restaurant, tourism and transport are the most affected by this COVID-19 breakout. Moreover, COVID-19 has drastically affected Colombo Stock Exchange in Sri Lanka, reporting a historical low in mid-March 2020. Because of the weaken performance in export and tourism, Sri Lankan rupee has sharply depreciated against major currencies in the world. The predictions reveal that there is a greater potential of increasing poverty within the country. Therefore, appropriate measures should be taken to regain the economy while controlling the spread of the pandemic.