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Item Country diagnostic on mutual and cooperative microinsurance in Sri Lanka(Institute of Policy Studies, Sri Lanka, 2018-12) Tilakaratna, Ganga; Sooriyamudali, Chinthani; Perera, Anarkalee; Abeywickrama, ManaveeItem Educational opportunities for the poor in Sri Lanka: assessing spatial disparities(Institute of Policy Studies, Sri Lanka, 2008-11) Tilakaratna, Ganga; Galappattige, Ayodya; Jayatilaka, Ruwan; Perera, RamaliItem Interprecting SDGS for South Asia: in search of a regional framework-the case of Sri Lanka(United Nations ESCAP, 2019-11) Tilakaratna, Ganga; Sooriyamudali, ChinthaniThis study examines the scope for South Asian regional cooperation to further the implementation of the SDGs in Sri Lanka. The study provides an overview of the status of the 17 SDGs in Sri Lanka and discusses the SDG implementation challenges within the national context. It identifies SDG regional cooperation priorities for Sri Lanka, particularly with regard to climate action, energy, food security, and economic growth. This is followed by a discussion on the trade, investment, transport, knowledge, and institutional connectivity in South Asia from a Sri Lankan perspective. The paper concludes that an effective and coordinated inter-regional institutional mechanism is key to the improving regional integration.Item Microfinance in Sri Lanka: a household level analysis of outreach and impact on poverty(Institute of Policy Studies, Sri Lanka, 2005) Tilakaratna, Ganga; Wickramasinghe, Upali; Kumara, ThusithaMicrofinance, one of the widely accepted instruments for poverty alleviation throughout the world, has been used in Sri Lanka spanning for over several decades. Despite the long history and the large number of institutions providing microfinance services particularly to the poor, there is limited knowledge on the impact of microfinance on poverty alleviation in Sri Lanka. This study fills this gap by studying some important issues related to the microfinance sector: outreach of microfinance, role of informal sources of finance and the impact on poverty and welfare of households. Microfinance services in Sri Lanka have a wide geographical outreach but the extent of outreach of private operators including NGOs and commercial banks in rural areas is rather limited. Although the poor and the poorest groups have been reached by Microfinance Institutions (MFIs), a significant proportion of their clientele seems to be from the non-poor groups. Microfinance has helped households in middle quintiles to increase their income and assets; helped the very poor to increase consumption expenditure; has inculcated savings habits among the poor; has worked as an instrument of consumption smoothing among almost all income groups; and has helped women to increase their social status and improve the economic conditions. The study also finds that the informal financial market is pervasive across districts and among different income groups. The study recognizes that financial services alone are not sufficient to raise the living conditions of the poor. To create sustainable micro-enterprise and other economic activities, it is important that MFIs facilitate or directly involve in providing 'credit-plus' services to their clients, particularly to those in low income categories. Development of rural infrastructure facilities is of prime importance to improve the outreach of MFIs in remote rural areas and encouraging the private and NGO sectors to involve more effectively in microfinance provision. The study also stresses the need to take into account the heterogeneity of microfinance clients and their needs in designing more effective microfinance instruments.Item Impact of trade liberalization on poverty and household welfare in Sri Lanka(Institute of Policy Studies, Sri Lanka, 2005-09) Jayanetti, Sanath; Tilakaratna, GangaIt is argued that economic growth is a necessary condition for poverty alleviation while a liberal trade regime is a prerequisite for sustainable economic growth. However, trade liberalization affects consumers and producers differently. While tariff reduction on imports may bring welfare gains to consumers, there would be many producers who are adversely affected by such trade policy reforms. Hence, our attempt in this paper is to look at the impact of trade liberalization on poverty and welfare of households, with a special focus on the rice and potato sectors of Sri Lanka. Both a descriptive approach (for rice and potato sectors) and an analytical model (for rice sector) are used in this regard. The paper also analyses various trade policy reforms taken place during the last decade and, the extent and nature of poverty in Sri Lanka. The descriptive analysis showed various trade policy reforms in rice and potato sectors during the last decade and their implications. The results of the analytical model showed an overall welfare improvement to the country (in the short run) from a tariff reduction on rice. Net welfare effect for all the income deciles is positive. However, the extent of gain for low-income deciles is higher compared to richer deciles. District level analysis showed welfare gains for all the districts except for two large-scale rice producing areas of Ampara and Polonnaruwa. Moreover, Estate sector households had the highest positive welfare effect while the urban sector had the lowest (positive) effect. The rural sector showed a mixed effect depending on whether the households in the area/district, in general, are net producers or net consumers of rice. The paper stresses the need to eliminate ad hoc trade policies and move towards a low uniform ad valorem tariff rate for rice and potato. Moreover, it highlights the importance of having both the compensatory and the complementary policies to minimize the adverse effects of trade liberalization on households, particularly those effects on the poor