Heightened volatility in the global economy and intensifying geopolitical rivalries pose complex policy challenges for small countries embarking on post-conflict development. These issues are nowhere better exemplified as in the case of Sri Lanka. The aftermath of the conflict was ripe with opportunities, but also posed daunting challenges. To sustain peace, development needed to be broad based and inclusive. It needed to rapidly reconstruct war-devastated regions, restore macroeconomic stability, while delivering a ‘peace dividend’. It had to attract capital and assistance and support of the international community, including the rising Asian giants, China and India.
But coping with adverse shocks, while exploiting new opportunities, has proved not to be easy. This book draws lessons from the story of Sri Lanka’s post-conflict development in the context of a struggle for socio-political reconciliation, a turbulent world economy, and difficult internal and external political challenges.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Challenges and Opportunities of Sri Lanka’s Post Conflict Economic Development Overview, Sisira Jayasuriya and Dushni Weerakoon
Part I: Policies, Regulations, and Governance for Smart Growth
- Trade and Competition Policies: Implications for Productivity Growth in Sri Lanka, Sarath Rajapatirana
- Regulatory Reforms in Post-conflict Sri Lanka: Breaking the Cycle?, Malathy Knight
- Managing Macroeconomic Stability while Investing in Reconstruction in Post-conflict Sri Lanka, H N Thenuwara
- Ensuring Sustainable Development in Post-conflict Sri Lanka, Athula Senaratne
Part II: Post-conflict Development in a Transforming Global Economy
- Debt Financing for Development: The Sri Lankan Experience, Dushni Weerakoon and Sisira Jayasuriya
- Using RCEP as a Stepping Stone to East Asia: Case Studies of Sri Lanka and India, Ganeshan Wignaraja
- Balancing Economic Partnerships for Growth in the Post-conflict Sri Lanka, Janaka Wijayasiri
- Export Expansion in a Changing Global Order: Challenging Times for Post-conflict Sri Lanka, Prema-chandra Athukorala
Part III: Smarter Development for Sustaining Peace
- Tourism in Post-conflict Development: Making Use of New Opportunities in Sri Lanka, Jayatilleke Bandaralage
- Economic Transformations for Better Lives through Better Jobs, Nisha Arunatilake
- Post-conflict Agricultural Modernization in Sri Lanka, Manoj Thibbotuwawa
- Achieving Equity in Post-conflict Sri Lanka, Ganga Thilakaratne
- Transitioning to Middle Income and Beyond: The Urbanization Challenge in Post-conflict Sri Lanka, Bilesha Weeraratne