Housing Finance Market in Sri Lanka
This document is based on the housing finance market in Sri Lanka. It covers the current position and some recent trends, the reason for focusing on the housing finance market, the macroeconomic environment, the policy framework for housing finance in Sri Lanka, and the legal, fiscal and regulatory framework. With the extensive media coverage given to recent events in Sri Lanka, let me be very brief in my attempt to familiarize the distinguished participants, with the country and its people. Sri Lanka is an island, 65,000 square kilometers in size, situated in the Indian Ocean, at the southern tip of our great neighbor India. The country has a written history dating back to more than 2600 years. From almost the beginning of the sixteenth century, it has been a colony under the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the English respectively, for approx 150 years each, till it gained political independence in 1948. The current population is approx 20.2 million comprising of three main ethnic groups viz the Sinhalese (74%), S.L Tamils (12.6%), Indian Tamils (5.5%) Moors (7.1%), and others like Burghers.