Sri Lanka's economy making steady progress - Central Bank Governor

Governor of Sri Lanka's Central Bank Ajith Nivard Cabraal says the country's economy is making steady progress in almost every macro-economic front.
Cabraal has told an English weekly newspaper in an interview that he would describe the country's status as stable and steady. "Even in the midst of the global turmoil, Sri Lanka has been maintaining a high growth while our external sector has been stabilizing, with poverty, unemployment, reserve position and GDP growth being headed in the right direction. Recently, we have seen some escalation in inflation, but we are satisfied that it is due to supply side issues and not based on any demand pressures building up. We have also set a stage for an enhanced growth for the year 2013, and the pipeline of FDIs seems to be strong," he has explained. He has noted that the diversification of the economy through the 5 Hub concept plus tourism is creating a large number of opportunities, and that too would provide the necessary expansion which would propel Sri Lanka in the journey to reach the US$ 4,000 per capita income and beyond. "The banking sector too has shown a significant resilience and that also augurs well for the future," he has added. As for the country's reserves, the Governor has said they are adequate for the current and immediate future needs of the country and that is why there does not seem to be any need for a further IMF support to build up reserves.