Sri Lanka encountered the most challenging year in 2022 in the post-independence economy. Headwinds due to consecutive economic shocks in recent years, including the Easter Sunday attacks in 2019, the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, and its protracted impact on activity in the aftermath in 2021, the socioeconomic and political crisis in 2022 amidst catastrophic balance of payments (BOP) pressures, along with unprecedented policy tradeoffs, have severely affected economic activity, inflicting unimaginable hardships to individuals and businesses. Livelihoods were lost, while real incomes suffered the most. Structural economic impediments that existed across various spheres of the economy over decades were compounded by these economic shocks, along with ill-timed policy choices, thereby loosening the macroeconomic balance and resulting in a sudden and multipronged setback for the nation.
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Monetary and Financial Sector Policies for 2023 and Beyond
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Sri Lanka Prosperity Index - 2021
Sri Lanka Prosperity Index(SLPI) , recorded an index value of 0.796 in 2021 with a slight increase compared to 0.764 recorded in 2020 where the economy was severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The marginal increases of ‘Economy and Business Climate’, ‘Well-being of the People’ and ‘Socio-Economic Infrastructure’ sub-indices have contributed to this slight increment in SLPI.
Overall increase in the Economy and Business Climate sub-index in 2021 was driven by increases in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita in nominal terms, employment, wages and industrial density compared to 2020. However, relatively high inflation in 2021 compared to the previous year had detrimental effects on the sub-index.
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CCPI based headline inflation eased further in December
Headline inflation, as measured by the year-on-year (Y-o-Y) change in the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI, 2013=100) decreased to 57.2% in December 2022 from 61.0% in November 2022 recording the lowest reading in the second half of 2022. Following a similar trend, the Food inflation (Y-o-Y) decreased to 64.4% in December 2022 from 73.7% in November 2022. Meanwhile, the Non-Food inflation (Y-o-Y) decreased to 53.4% in December 2022 from 54.5% in November 2022.
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Kanrich Finance Limited – Settlement of Public Liabilities
The Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka as a measure to strengthen the Non-Bank Financial Institutions Sector under the ‘Masterplan for Consolidation’ decided to direct Kanrich Finance Limited (KFL) to settle its public liabilities in full within the period from 26.12.2022 to 28.02.2023 in terms of Section 25(1)(m) of the Finance Business Act, No. 42 of 2011 (FBA), due to continuous capital deficiencies faced by KFL.
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Provincial Gross Domestic Product (PGDP) - 2021
Western province, which is the epicentre to majority of the key activities of the Sri Lankan economy, continued to be the largest contributor to the national output representing 42.6 per cent of the nominal GDP (base year 2015) in 2021, with a marginal increase in its share on year-on-year basis. North Western (11.1 per cent) and Central (10.1 per cent) provinces recorded second and third highest shares, respectively.
Contribution to nominal GDP from Western, Sabaragamuwa and North Western provinces increased in 2021 compared to 2020, while that of Southern, Northern and Uva provinces remained unchanged. However, contributions from Central, Eastern and North Central provinces decreased marginally in 2021.
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Swarnamahal Financial Services PLC - Cancellation of the Licence
The Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka decided to cancel the Finance Business Licence issued to Swarnamahal Financial Services PLC (SFSP), in terms of Section 37(3) of the Finance Business Act, No. 42 of 2011 (FBA) with effect from 28th December 2022. Accordingly, SFSP is not permitted to engage in Finance Business under the FBA with effect from 28th December 2022.
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NCPI based headline inflation decreased for the second consecutive month in November 2022
Headline inflation, as measured by the year-on-year (Y-o-Y) change in the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI, 2013=100) decreased to 65.0% in November 2022 from 70.6% in October 2022. Similarly, the Food inflation (Y-o-Y) decreased to 69.8% in November 2022 from 80.9% in October 2022, while Non-Food inflation (Y-o-Y) decreased to 60.4% in November 2022 from 61.3% in October 2022.
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Sri Lanka Purchasing Managers’ Index - November 2022
Purchasing Managers' Indices for both Manufacturing and Services activities remained contracted in November 2022.
Indicating a setback in manufacturing activities on a month-on-month basis, Manufacturing PMI recorded an index value of 42.1 in November 2022. This setback was contributed by subdued performance observed in all the sub-indices, except for Suppliers’ Delivery Time.
Services PMI recorded an index value of 49.0 in November 2022, up from 47.9 in October, yet remained slightly below the neutral threshold level. The rate of decline in services activities was softened with the improvements observed in New Businesses, Business Activities and Expectations for Activity. However, Employment and Backlogs of Work declined during the month.
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Public awareness in relation to defrauding individuals through scam calls, text messages, email messages and social media networks
In recent times, a rapid increase in the number of complaints filed by aggrieved parties has been observed in relation to defrauding money from individuals by giving false information through fraudulent phone calls, text messages, e-mail messages and social media networks, promising to direct them to foreign employment or asking them to pay customs duties to receive parcels containing various valuable goods.
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Imposition/ Collection of Administrative Penalties by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to Enforce Compliance on Financial Institutions from 01 July 2022 to 16 November 2022
By virtue of the powers vested under Section 19 (1) read together with section 19 (2) of the Financial Transactions Reporting Act, No. 6 of 2006 (FTRA), financial penalties are imposed on Institutions for non-compliance with the provisions of the FTRA. The penalty may be prescribed taking into consideration the nature and gravity of relevant non-compliance of the Financial Institution.
Accordingly, as Sri Lanka’s regulator for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT), the FIU collected penalties as indicated below, amounting to Rs. 10.75 million in total from 01 July 2022 to 16 November 2022 to enforce compliance on Financial Institutions. The money collected as penalties were credited to the Consolidated Fund.