Sri Lanka, Sept. 11 -- Sri Lanka must build its foreign reserve buffers during favourable periods to prepare for future economic shocks and growing geopolitical uncertainty, Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe has warned.

Speaking at the inaugural Reserve Management Conference 2026 in Colombo, Dr. Weerasinghe stressed that the nation's 2022 economic crisis demonstrated the severe consequences of critically low external buffers, which restricted imports, strained debt servicing, intensified exchange-rate pressures, and eroded economic confidence.

While macroeconomic stabilisation and structural reforms have strengthened Sri Lanka's external sector since 2022, the Governor cautioned that reserve accumulation is not a linear pro...