Economic Effects of War on a Country: An Overlook of Sri Lankan Economy During the Period of Civil War

Abstract

Sri Lanka is a country that faced a war for three decades. Both the extremists and armed forces faced major losses including thousands of lives. Expenses for recruiting and maintaining a large military and the purchase of technically advanced weapons is inevitable during war. Therefore, Sri Lankan governments had to spend money on providing supplies for the armed forces. Lack of security pushes back the tourists who hope to visit a country and this reduced the amount of revenue that should have been brought into the country by tourism. Rate of development of infrastructure underwent a considerable decline due to the situation in the country. Agriculture and livestock farming were affected, and foreign investments were not brought into the country due to the uncertainty of the final product of war. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to study the effects that the civil war has had on Sri Lanka and show that not only Sri Lanka, but also any other country that goes through a war suffers similar economic consequences.