Roadmap needed for SL's targeted Covid-19 recovery

Colombo, Oct 20 A robust government roadmap was required for Sri Lanka's targeted recovery in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic in an effort to increase the island nation's share of exports and fast-track existing foreign investments, a new report said.

The report compiled by Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) and titled, 'Pandemics and Disruptions: Reviving Sri Lanka's Economy Covid-19 and Beyond', was released on Monday, the Daily Financial Times newspaper reported.

"A robust road map will go a long way to help bypass risks and mitigate the disruptive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, without major run long costs for the Sri Lankan economy," it added.

The report focused extensively on the different policy actions needed in a range of sectors, including minimising costs of pandemics, social protections, women, education, technology and protecting SMEs to move Sri Lanka's economy forward.

It also emphasised that many key sectors, such as migrant workers, exports and tourism were severely impacted, resulting in direct impact on the poor.

"Sustained recovery for the poor means reviving livelihoods and generating employment opportunities across the country. An early revival of construction activities can help boost employment prospects for large numbers of low-skilled manual workers.

"Other sectors that can get back to productive employment are agriculture and fisheries... Thus, a prioritised and planned recovery strategy can help target Sri Lanka's poor to ensure an equitable development path beyond Covid-19," it added.

The report comes as Sri Lanka's overall Covid-19 caseload stands at 5,665 with 13 deaths.

( With inputs from IANS )