Monetary Poverty Estimates in Sri Lanka: Selected Issues

"This paper provides an introduction to poverty-related data available in Sri Lanka and monetary measurements of poverty carried out using this data. The lack of an official poverty line in Sri Lanka until June 2004 has over time generated a number of poverty lines and corresponding poverty measures. While these poverty measures have provided a good base for poverty analysis, the paper also touches on the problems generated by the use of multiple methods. The release of the official poverty line by the Department of Census and Statistics can be seen as a major step forward in the debate on poverty measurement in Sri Lanka."