Sri Lanka has long served as an important strategic destination in the Indian Ocean, catering to merchants and travellers from Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East and East Africa. While much of the country’s recent history has been tainted by a decades-long civil war, a post-conflict euphoria brought with it a sense of renewal and optimism. Robust growth figures, rising incomes, an increasingly service-dominated economy and a new reform-minded government have bolstered investor confidence, and a $1.5bn deal with the IMF, signed in 2016, will also provide a firm anchor for much-needed structural reform and fiscal consolidation in the years to come.
