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Item Realizing the sustainable development goals in the 4IR(2019) Tilakaratna, Ganga; Perera, JananiItem Social protection in Sri Lanka: current status and effect on labor market outcomes(Institute for Human Development, 2015) Tilakaratna, Ganga; Jayawardana, SahanThere are many social protection programs in Sri Lanka targeting vulnerable groups such as the poor, elderly, disabled, children and women. These programs vary from cash and in-kind transfers to pensions, insurance and livelihood development programs. Despite the multitude of programs, the current social protection system has many weaknesses. This study provides a detailed analysis of Sri Lanka’s social protection system and further examines the relationship between social protection and labour market outcomes such as the labor force participation and employment status. The study uses both quantitative and qualitative analyses. The quantitative analysis reveals that social protection income as a share of household expenditure has a marginal negative effect on the probability of an individual’s labour force participation. This relationship holds for the prime age (25-59 years) and the elderly categories of both genders while no significant effect is observed on the youth. With regard to the effect on employment status, the study reveal a positive effect on employment categories like own account workers, but the marginal effects are very small, hence no conclusive interpretations could be made. The study stresses the need for improving the current social protection system, particularly its efficiency and resource allocation within the system.Item Multiple Borrowing in the Sri Lankan Microfinance Sector(Brooks World Poverty Institute, University of Manchester, 2013-09) Tilakaratna, GangaThis brief discusses the extent of multiple borrowing in the microfinance sector in Sri Lanka, and its implications. It is based on a panel household survey carried out in 2006-07 and 2009-10. Detailed interviews with multiple borrowers and key informant interviews were also conducted.Item Data constraints in monitoring SDGs(2017) Tilakaratna, GangaItem Financial inclusion, regulation, and education in Sri Lanka(Asian Development Bank, 2014-11) Kelegama, Saman; Tilakaratna, GangaSri Lanka has achieved a high level of financial inclusion compared to other South Asian countries. Its financial sector comprises a wide range of financial institutions providing financial services such as loans, savings, pawning, leasing and finance, and remittance and money transfer facilities. There is also evidence that a larger share of households in Sri Lanka accesses multiple financial institutions for their credit and savings needs. However, the use of insurance services, ATM facilities, e-payments, and mobile banking, is relatively low. Financial education is ad hoc and lags behind financial innovation and new products. The information technology (IT) literacy rate is only 35% in Sri Lanka, and with the growing IT–finance nexus, financial awareness and education have become all the more important. Strengthening the regulatory framework governing the microfinance sector and client protection is also crucial for improving financial inclusion in Sri Lanka. Much scope remains to improve financial inclusion, particularly related to cost and quality of financial services provided, and the sustainability of financial institutions.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 Social protection and the MDGs in Sri Lanka(Southern Voice o post-MDG international Development Goals, 2014) Tilakaratna, GangaThe role of social protection in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has been widely recognised. The Sri Lankan experience demonstrates that social protection policies and programmes carried out by the successive governments over decades have helped make substantial progress on many goals. The importance of social protection goes beyond MDGs. The issues of ageing population, informalisation of work, low female labour force participation, and increasing vulnerability to shocks also stress the need for comprehensive social protection systems. Social protection has to be a key element of the post-2015 development agenda – either as a goal, or as an instrument to achieve several goalsItem 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.