'Ten New Realities' And Opportunities In Sri Lanka As A Result Of Covid-19

Over the last few weeks, there have been many discussions, ideas, and content on the impact of COVID-19 on businesses and the economy in particular. It is evident that COVID-19 has created many challenges for individuals, companies, and governments. This pandemic has created volatility, uncertainty, and chaos at an unprecedented level. Whilst there is insufficient data at this point of time to predict the overall impact of COVID-19 to the global economy, it is reasonable to forecast that the recovery may take around 24 months for certain countries.

- Dr. Nirmal De Silva

Interestingly, most countries seem to be allocating between 5-10 percent of their GDP in order to fight off the pandemic and provide a much-needed stimulus to their economies. Of course, not every country can afford to do the same because they may not have the necessary fiscal space to do so, making them more vulnerable than the others.

The world that all of us are going to embrace post-COVID-19, will be a totally different one without a shadow of doubt. As individuals, our lives will also be definitely changing (if not already), once this pandemic is over. It is going to be an era where it will be the ‘survival of the most adaptable’.

In Sri Lanka, industries such as tourism, apparel, construction, tea, exports and the manufacturing sector will be severely impacted as a result of this pandemic. Similarly, the importers are also ‘feeling the heat’ due to the temporary restrictions on imports and the currency depreciation (the rupee has depreciated by approximately 11 percent over the last 30 days).

The daily wage earners and self-employed, who are a significant proportion of the total working population in Sri Lanka, are currently in ‘dire straits’ and struggling to say the least. Unfortunately, the recent economic stimulus package introduced by the government does not address these segments sufficiently.

On the other hand, industries such as healthcare, telecom, agriculture, ICT, e-commerce and food processing for example, will have new opportunities that derive due to this current pandemic situation.