Sri Lanka's Economy Plummeting under the Influence of COVID-19 Epidemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 epidemic, declared by the World health Organization as a global epidemic on 11th of March 2020, is now not only a global health crisis but also a global economic and financial crisis. In this situation Sri Lanka’s all major sources of income are at high risk. This research is focused the economic impact of COVID-19 on Sri Lankan economy specific the three major components of the economy in Agriculture, Industry & Service sector. Those are contributed their share to the GDP at current prices by 7.3%, 28.4%, 58.3% respectively in the first quarter of 2020.As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak many sectors in the economy was in deep decline. Therefore GDP estimates of the first quarter of 2020, have reported in Agriculture, & Industrial activities by 5.6% and 7.8% respectively. Although during the first Quarter of 2020 services sector activities have been continued further. Also the severe downturn in the tourism industry, which has been instrumental in boosting Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves, has been a major challenge at Present. The Sri Lanka Rupee is depreciating rapidly due to the depreciation of foreign reserves. In such a situation Sri Lanka is facing a serious challenge of sustaining economic growth by spending large amounts of foreign exchange on vaccinations and PCR & RAT tests required for virus control.