Prosperity Index edges up in first year of pandemic

The Sri Lanka Prosperity Index (SLPI), a measure of the country’s prosperity, inched up in the first year of the pandemic in 2020, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) said. 

The increase was achieved with the improved healthcare, higher education opportunities and better air quality that was made possible by the less mobility and industrial activities resulted from the pandemic, the CBSL reasoned.

The SLPI, annually measured by the CBSL’s Statistics Department, was read at 0.786 in 2020, compared to 0.783 index points in 2019, posting a marginal increase between the two years, which came only from the index’s ‘well-being of the people’ sub-index. 

However, the other two sub-indices, ‘economy and business climate’ and ‘socio-economic infrastructure’, took a dip predominantly due to the pandemic’s toll on each of the aspects covered under them, as people lost jobs, businesses lost incomes and transport services decelerated. 

While even a marginal improvement in the people’s well-being and thereby the overall prosperity during a year of economic turmoil came as a surprise, things turned vastly gloomy in 2021.

The never ending pandemic caused widespread destruction across the economy and society took a massive toll on the people’s well-being with soaring prices, food shortages and loss of incomes, causing severe hardships for the people.