Sri Lanka Prosperity Index up in 2017 on improvement in ...

THE WELL-BEING OF THE PEOPLE SUB-INDEX HAS IMPROVED ONLY IN THE SOUTHERN PROVINCE, WHILE DECLINES WERE RECORDED IN ALL OTHER PROVINCES. THE IMPROVEMENT IN THE SOUTHERN PROVINCE WAS PREDOMINANTLY DUE TO THE HIGHER PERFORMANCE IN THE ASPECTS OF AVAILABILITY AND QUALITY OF EDUCATION AS WELL AS IN THE MEASUREMENT OF WEALTH OF PEOPLE, WHERE VEHICLE OWNERSHIP AND ACCESS TO SUPERMARKETS INCREASED

The Sri Lanka Prosperity Index (SLPI) increased to 0.771 in 2017, from 0.661 recorded in 2016, mainly due to the improvements in the ‘Economy and Business Climate’ and ‘Socio-economic Infrastructure’ sub-indices.

National prosperity

The Economy and Business Climate subindex has improved during 2017 due to the increase in the per capita gross domestic product (GDP) and enhancements of the aspects associated with employment.

With regard to the sub-index of Socioeconomic Infrastructure, improvements to the road network with the extensions to the expressways, construction of bridges and flyover projects, availability of electricity facilities and improvements in pipe-borne water quality were the key drivers.

Even though the Well-being of the People sub-index has declined during 2017, mainly due to the reduced levels of purity of environment and air quality, improvements were recorded in the aspects of availability of healthcare facilities, availability and quality of education, wealth of people and their engagement in entertainment activities.

Provincial prosperity

The provincial prosperity indices, compiled to measure the level of prosperity across provinces, increased in the North Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern and Western Provinces. Meanwhile, enhancements in rankings could be observed in the North Western and Sabaragamuwa Provinces. The provincial prosperity performances are given in Table 2.

Economy and Business Climate subindex

The Economic and Business Climate subindex has improved in five provinces namely, Central, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Uva and Western, mainly due to the improvements in the per capita GDP, high employment rate and increases in informal sector wages.

Meanwhile, high provincial inflation rates, slight increases in unemployment levels and decline in industry and banking density have been observed as key drivers for the subdued performance in the Eastern, North Central, North Western and Northern Provinces.

Well-being of People sub-index

The Well-being of the People sub-index has improved only in the Southern Province, while declines were recorded in all other provinces. The improvement in the Southern Province was predominantly due to the higher performance in the aspects of availability and quality of education as well as in the measurement of wealth of people, where vehicle ownership and access to supermarkets increased.

The decline of this sub-index in the rest of the provinces was mostly due to the adverse impact on the purity of environment caused by the dengue epidemic prevailed during 2017 and the low standards recorded in air quality, despite improvements in the aspects of availability of healthcare facilities, availability and quality of education, wealth of people and their engagement in entertainment activities.

Socio-economic Infrastructure subindex

The Socio-economic Infrastructure subindex has recorded increases in the Western and North Western Provinces, mainly due to the improvements in road development with the construction of the Central Expressway project, the progress of Rajagiriya, Ganemulla and Polgahawela flyovers and the availability of electricity and telecommunication facilities. Further, positive developments could be observed in the aspect of law and order as measured in terms of the number of crimes reported during 2017.

The deterioration of the Socioeconomic Infrastructure sub-index in the other seven provinces was mostly driven by the decline in the availability of information and communication technology, telecommunication and transport facilities.