Sri Lanka cbank sees economy rebounding

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka´s economy will rebound in coming months as the island nation begins to rebuild after devastating floods, and it could still expand by 4.5 to 5.0 percent for the full-year, central bank Governor Indrajith Coomaraswamy said on Monday.

The central bank had earlier estimated 2017 growth at 5 percent, higher than last year´s 4.4 percent, before the floods and landslides in May that killed more than 200 people and hit the agricultural sector hard.

In contrast, some main agriculture areas have suffered from severe drought since early this year. The central bank, however, has not revised down its official growth estimates yet. "The reality is somewhere between 4.5-5.0 percent," Coomaraswamy told Reuters.  "There should be a rebound in the second half. Usually you have some reconstruction activities that come with rehabilitation activities after those kind of natural disasters. "Sri Lanka´s economic growth slowed to 3.8 percent in the first quarter year-on-year from the previous quarter´s 5.3 percent as drought dragged on.