Sri Lanka on track to regain 2019 economy by 2026 – President

Sri Lanka President Anura Kumara Dissanayake says that by next year (2026), the country will be able to return to the economic conditions that existed in 2019, before it fell into crisis.

The President, who is in the United States to attend the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, made this remark when he met with Sri Lankans living in New York.

At the event, President Dissanayake stated that Sri Lanka, which officially became a bankrupt state in 2022, has now rapidly stabilized the crisis.

Further expressing his views, the President said:

“Overseas Sri Lankans extended immense support toward the victory we achieved. They helped financially, and that contribution was a key reason for our success.

In the 2019 elections, we were a movement that received only about 3% of the vote. But in the 2024 Presidential Election, and later in the General Election, we were able to secure victory with the highest number of parliamentary seats in Sri Lanka’s history.

On April 12, 2022, Sri Lanka officially announced that it would suspend debt repayments and declared itself bankrupt. At that time, the ruler in power became the first leader in Sri Lanka’s history to be forced out by the people.

One of the major challenges before us was resolving the economic crisis. Another was establishing stability so that such a crisis would never occur again in the country.

Within just one year, we were able to significantly ease the economic collapse that had dragged the nation down.

All international organizations, ratings agencies, and global financial institutions have noted in their reports that Sri Lanka managed to stabilize itself quickly after a severe crisis.

Economists say that when an economy collapses, it usually takes about ten years for a country to return to its previous state. Since Sri Lanka collapsed in 2022, it would normally be expected to recover only by 2032.

But we believe that by next year (2026), we can restore the economy to the level it was at in 2019, before the collapse.”