Proposal to downgrade Sri Lanka to a low-income country approved

Sri Lanka’s Cabinet of Ministers has granted approval to downgrade Sri Lanka to a low-income country from a lower-middle income country, announced Cabinet Spokesperson Minister Bandula Gunawardena today (October 11).

The approval was granted during yesterday’s (October 10) weekly Cabinet meeting.

Minister Gunawardena said the downgrade is a reflection of the economic status of the country.

“Sri Lanka was a middle-income country as per the global classification. Given the middle-income status we cannot access concessionary loans from overseas,” he told reporters.

He revealed that the income of persons following the economic crisis dropped drastically, and it fell even further in 2022.

The Minister said that global agencies had recommended to the Finance Minister to downgrade the status of Sri Lanka for them to provide concessionary loan assistance to Sri Lanka.