Dec 15 : Sri Lanka’s financial system grew 5.4 per cent year-on-year within the third quarter of 2025, official knowledge confirmed on Monday, signaling a sustained restoration from the last decade’s worst monetary disaster in 2022.
The island nation’s financial system had grown 4.9 per cent within the previous quarter.
Sri Lanka’s agriculture sector grew by 3.6 per cent within the third quarter from a yr earlier, whereas industrial output expanded by 8.1 per cent, and companies grew by 3.5 per cent, the census and statistics division stated in a press release.
The island nation, which was rising from the worst financial disaster in a long time that peaked in 2022, is reeling from a extreme cyclone that hit in late November.
Cyclone Ditwah left 643 folks lifeless and at its peak affected practically 10 per cent of the 22 million inhabitants. Floods attributable to torrential rain broken essential infrastructure and the island’s agriculture sector, authorities stated.
Growth is projected at 4.5 per cent this yr by the central financial institution however analysts say progress might sluggish to about 3 per cent in 2026 on account of Ditwah.
“We are expecting a 0.5 per cent-0.7 per cent contraction in the economy due to the cyclone. The impact will be tempered as reconstruction spending, which could be about $2 billion, will also drive growth next year,” stated Shehan Cooray, head of analysis at HNB Stockbrokers.
Sri Lanka, which is already underneath a four-year, $2.9 billion program from the International Monetary Fund, has sought $200 million in emergency funds from the worldwide lender. The IMF expects the Sri Lankan financial system to develop 3.1 per cent in 2026.
An IMF crew will go to in January for a recent evaluation earlier than releasing the sixth tranche of the unique program.
The World Bank is making as much as $120 million in emergency help accessible by repurposing funds from ongoing tasks.
“This will support recovery and help restore essential services and infrastructure—including health care, water, education, agriculture, and connectivity—in the areas hit hardest by the cyclone,” it stated in a press release.