Economic impact on SL from Japan catastrophe ‘negligible’ – CB

Thursday, 17 March 2011 00:30 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Japan is a large investor in Sri Lanka, but there is no threat to it as this kind of disaster doesn’t have an impact on Japan’s potential to invest outside of the country. They will continue to do so, said Deputy Governor of Central Bank, Dharma Dheerasinghe commenting on the impact on the Sri Lanka’s economy due to the 11 March earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

“As far as Sri Lanka is concerned, the impact is negligible. The quake has not affected a large part of the country and the Japanese administration and financial system continue to operate,” he said.

We are a net importer from Japan. But a lot of the imports, including Japanese motor vehicles, are produced and shipped from other countries. It is not a big export destination for us, Dharma Dheerasinghe told Bloomberg.

He added, “We have a lot of foreign-exchange dealings with Japan. But our counterparties operate from various locations with backup sites, and market activities continue uninterrupted with little risk.”

He pointed out although Sri Lanka is a big beneficiary of Japanese aid, this does not take place on a daily basis. “I don’t see a threat to this as the Japanese government is functioning.’’