Sri Lanka and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have agreed on a new Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for 2012 to 2016 to reduce regional disparities, catalyze private sector participation in development, and remove human resource constraints. The CPS builds on the priorities of government’s Development Policy Framework and ADB’s Strategy 2020, and also refines the focus of the CPS 2009–2011.
With the end of the war and restoration of political and economic stability, Sri Lanka faces good prospects for rapid economic growth and development. The economy is expected to continue growing at around 8% in the medium term. However, poor quality infrastructure is a major constraint to sustaining rapid economic growth.
“The aim of the CPS is to assist the government to address major constraints to sustaining inclusive growth in Sri Lanka. To be effective, ADB’s operations will be strategically focused on a few sectors. ADB will support infrastructure development that improves connectivity and service delivery to lagging regions, including the former conflict-affected regions of the country,” Narhari Rao, Lead Economist in ADB’s Sri Lanka Resident Mission said.
