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Sri Lanka GDP Plunged on Debt Default, Political Turmoil

  • April-June GDP fell 8.4% y/y, shrinking most in two years
  • All eyes on progress of IMF loan and debt restructuring
Shoppers, retailers and street vendors in Pettah district in Colombo, Sri Lanka.Photographer: Jonathan Wijayaratne/Bloomberg
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Sri Lanka’s economy shrank the most in two years amid a debt crisis that triggered a default and widespread protests that brought the nation to a standstill leading to the ouster of the president.

Gross domestic product fell 8.4% in the three months to June from a year ago, according to data released by the Statistics Department Wednesday. That’s the slowest reading since the corresponding quarter of 2020 and compares with an estimate of a 10% contraction in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Sri Lanka’s economy contracted 1.6% in the January-March quarter.