COLOMBO (News 1st) – Issuing Sri Lanka’s new development update report, the World Bank says Sri Lanka needs better jobs which are critical to reaching upper-middle income status.

According to recent statistics, in 2017, for the first time in decades, Sri Lanka’s fiscal revenue has exceeded expenditures excluding interest payments, leading to a primary fiscal surplus. However, the report says, despite this and other improvements in macroeconomic performance, the island nation remains vulnerable.

The latest edition of the Sri Lanka Development Update notes that economic growth slowed down to a 16-year low in 2017 mainly due to adverse weather conditions. The report adds that external trade balance weakened, and agriculture and related sectors were hit hard by successive floods and droughts, resulting in growth decelerating to 3.3 percent.

During the last decade, the employment rate in Sri Lanka decreased on average by 0.5 percent every year. The report says low female labor force participation and increasing unemployment among youth have contributed to Sri Lanka’s low employment rate.

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