Sri Lanka, Sept. 29 -- While 5 percent GDP growth in 2024 exceeded expectations, Sri Lanka's investment climate remains challenging, according to the US Statement Department.

While the sweeping electoral victories of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the National People's Power (NPP) parliamentary coalition in late 2024 have provided political stability, in the 2025 Investment Climate Statement on Sri Lanka, the US State Department said NPP's commitment to the country's US$3 billion, four-year (2023-2027) Extended Fund Facility IMF program reassured investors, but many remain wary given the NPP leadership's historically anti-Western, Marxist-influenced ideology.

The report said foreign direct investment (FDI) remains constrained, w...