
14/07/2025
https://www.dailymirror.lk/print/news-features/The-quiet-unraveling-How-IMF-reforms-are-reshaping-Sri-Lankas-economic-future/131-314009 #:~:text=A%20quiet%20but%20profound%20economic,and%20state%2Downed%20enterprise%20restructuring
Dr Kenneth De Zilwa talks about "A quiet but profound economic shift" happening below the surface of masked reforms
Two years into Sri Lanka’s IMF-supported reform programme, a transformation is unfolding quietly but with lasting implications. Public attention has focused on headline reforms such as fiscal consolidation, interest rate liberalisation, and state-owned enterprise restructuring.
Yet, beneath these surface changes, deeper shifts in cost structures, industrial competitiveness, and economic autonomy are taking place. Central to this is the introduction of an 18% VAT on digital services effective October 2025, alongside currency depreciation and structural policy shifts.
While these measures aim to stabilise public finances, they risk throttling Sri Lanka’s vibrant digital economy and export and industrial sectors, raising broader questions about the country’s market share for its industrial future and economic resilience.
Sri Lanka’s economic future is being quietly reshaped beneath the surface of fiscal targets and IMF scorecards. ..