Sri Lankans agree by a wide margin that the economy, economic crisis, and inflation are the most important national problems at present, the Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOTS) by the Institute for Health Policy (IHP) reported.
In the SLOTS polling conducted during October and November 2022, respondents were asked to identify the top national issues currently facing the country.
Seven in ten Sri Lankans (73%) view the economy and the economic crisis as one of the top two problems for the country, with the public also rating inflation (41%) and jobs and unemployment (13%) as major economic problems.
After economic issues, one in four Sri Lankans (23%) view corruption as a priority issue, followed by one in ten (9%) who cite politicization or political interference.
Significant numbers of Sri Lankans also list fuel shortages (8%) and power cuts (7%) as priority problems, followed by 6% who mention high taxes and 5% who mention problems with health services, according to SLOTS interviews of 622 adults conducted between Oct. 4– Nov. 30, 2022.
Better-off and poor Sri Lankans differ in their rating of key problems. The poorest one-third of Sri Lankans almost universally (89%) rate the economic crisis as one of the two main national problems, but less than two-thirds (62%) of the richest one-third of Sri Lankans do.
In contrast, better-off Sri Lankans are far more likely to view corruption (36%) and political interference (11%) as leading problems, with few poor Sri Lankans listing corruption (6%) and political interference (3%) as leading problems.
These differences are paralleled by differences in views between Sinhala and non-Sinhala adults, which also reflects Sinhala adults on average being socioeconomically advantaged than members of other ethnicities.
Non-Sinhala adults are far more likely than Sinhala adults to rate the economic crisis as a leading problem (95% versus 66%).
In contrast, the view of corruption (31%) or political interference (12%) as the leading problems is largely a Sinhala concern, with negligible numbers of non-Sinhala adults listing these as the top problems. (NewsWire)
