Central Bank is working out a swap arrangement - Ajith Nivard Cabraal

''If that is addressed we would find some more people coming back into the market. The shortfall we had with foreign receipts and foreign inflows will also be met with that strategy,'' he said.

Addressing an investor forum in Colombo on Tuesday (15), the State Minister said the government has an ambitious plan of 5 years to bring back Sri Lanka to the growth path.'' We have and will put the necessary building blocks for a conducive environment and policy regime. Sri Lanka will come out stronger with more resilience, '' he said.

Cabraal said that exports and foreign remittances have returned to near-normal and the decline in global oil prices has compensated for the losses suffered in the tourism sector. The State Minister added '' the external account today is not as bleak as it looked during the first three months of COVID-19,''.

Cabraal also said that there is a deposit base worth Rs.10 trillion in the Banks and Finance companies in the country, and if capital market players succeed in securing at least 1 percent of it, the Colombo Stock Exchange can benefit by Rs.100 billion.

''Locals today can make that impact if they were to return to the market because the market has such a good price today. You have shares, which are grossly underpriced. So let the Sri Lankans buy that. Let the Sri Lankans get a bargain if nobody else is buying,'' Cabraal said.