Sri Lankan economy remains in a severe setback, Steve Hanke says, comparing GDP per capita growth with India after the 2019 forex crisis.
Sri Lankan economy has not recovered from the severe setback caused by the foreign exchange crisis that began in 2019, Professor Steve Hanke has said.
Professor Steve Hanke of Applied Economics at Johns Hopkins University in the United States has pointed out that Sri Lanka’s economic growth has fallen sharply when compared with India.
According to the Professor, Sri Lanka’s per capita GDP growth was at a similar level to India until early 2019. However, after the 2019 currency crisis and the later intervention of the International Monetary Fund, Sri Lanka has still not returned to its earlier economic path.
The comparison is based on changes in per capita Gross Domestic Product, measured as GDP Per Capita Constant 2010 USD, during the period from 2008 to 2025.
Using an index level of 100 as the baseline in 2008, India’s growth had reached 232.36 by 2025.
Sri Lanka, however, remains far behind at 158.10 during the same period.
This raises concerns about whether Sri Lanka’s recovery narrative reflects the real condition of ordinary economic growth, especially when compared with regional competitors.
Professor Hanke further emphasized that, contrary to reports in Western media, the Sri Lankan economy is still in a serious setback.
What happens next could be critical, as Sri Lanka’s economic direction will depend on whether growth can recover beyond stabilization and return to a stronger long-term path.
