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Russian-Ukrainian war a blow to Colombo's economy

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Update time : 2022-03-22 21:26:52
Impact on tea exports, tourism and foreign currency crisis. A prolonged clash risks stopping exports altogether, not least because of rising energy prices in Europe. At the moment no wheat, sunflower oil, iron and steel products are arriving from Russia and Ukraine.
Colombo (AsiaNews) - The Russian invasion of Ukraine threatens Sri Lanka's tea exports, the national tourism industry (which was recovering after the pandemic) and will push up inflation. The energy sector, as elsewhere in the world, is also at risk. According to analysts, the economic consequences of the war risk bankrupting the country. 

The invasion ordered by Putin has also aggravated the dollar crisis and stopped the arrival of Russian and Ukrainian tourists, the most numerous to visit the island. The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority told AsiaNews that about 20,000 Ukrainians and Russians had arrived in Sri Lanka by January 2022, accounting for more than a quarter of the total number of visitors.

The Ukrainian tourists were the first post-Covid travellers to Sri Lanka to bring in much-needed foreign currency, a report that had bounced around various media outlets last year, accompanied by allegations that the travellers had also brought a new strain of coronavirus to the island. Thousands of Ukrainian and Russian tourists are currently stranded in Sri Lanka, unable to use their credit cards because international banks have suspended transactions with Russia.

Economists report that Sri Lankan tea exports to Russia have fallen from 46 million kg in 2013 to 27 million kg in 2021. Despite this negative trend, demand for 'Ceylon Tea' played a significant role for the Sri Lankan economy until January this year, before the start of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. 

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