‘SL lost US$ 15 billion in revenue from tourism and foreign remittances from 2018 to 2022’

By Hiran H.Senewiratne

Sri Lanka had lost more than US$ 15 billion in revenue from the tourism industry and foreign remittances from 2018 to 2022, Almas Holdings Group chairman Imtiaz Buhardeen said.

“The reasons for this huge revenue loss for the country were the Easter Sunday attacks, the political coup of 2018, the Covid-19 global pandemic and economic and political unrest. However, the country is now slowly but steadily limping back to normalcy and the business community is a bit happy about this progress, Buhardeen told The Island Financial Revenue.

Buhardeen added: “At this juncture Sri Lanka’s economic fundamentals are falling into place and the country is also making rapid progress by implementing the IMF reform program unlike during the previous 16 occasions. We are now very bullish on Sri Lanka’s economic future.

“With IMF support, confidence is building in the outside world for Sri Lanka. It is now noticeable that the tourism sector and foreign remittances are also slowly picking up, which is a good sign for the country’s progress.

“The government is very serious in implementing the state-owned enterprises reform program, which is a need. The IMF and other creditors are observing us more strictly than on previous occasions.

“SOEs, which are incurring heavy losses, should be listed on the CSE, because once the institutions are listed, every quarterly they have to release audited results. It is mandatory that every listed company in the CSE has to meet this requirement.

“By listing profit-making SOEs in the private sector, they could be enabled to double their current profits and manage their funds more efficiently and effectively.

“We have observed that SriLankan Airlines is now making operational profits but due to their huge loans and high interest they are not able to turn around immediately. The government cannot be giving them handouts all the time.

“Only 1 percent of the Sri Lankan population is engaged in the stock market and more education programs should be held to woo more to the stock market. As interest rates are coming down rapidly, moving and investing in the stock market will be the best option for people.

“Investing in the stock market is more accountable and transparent than investing in other sources.

“There is much talk that domestic debt restructuring will have a major negative impact on the EPF but that is totally false.”