Sri Lanka improved to Upper-middle income status: World Bank

According to a new classification of world economies by World Bank (WB), Sri Lanka improved from Lower-middle income to Upper-middle income status marking the Gross National Income (GNI) per capita of 4060, a report from the Bank said. 

The World Bank classifies the world's economies into four income groups — high, upper-middle, lower-middle, and low on the basis of Gross National Income (GNI) per capita (current US$) calculated using the Atlas method. The classification is updated each year on July 1st.

The classification of countries is determined by two factors:A country’s GNI per capita, which can change with economic growth, inflation, exchange rates, and population. Revisions to national accounts methods and data can also influence GNI per capita.
Classification threshold: The thresholds are adjusted for inflation annually using the SDR deflator. 

The Bank said until last year (Fiscal Year 2019), the income classifications had an analytical purpose and did not influence the World Bank’s lending terms. “However, since the last fiscal year, the high-income threshold is also a determining factor for lending rates. Surcharges are applied for lending rates of countries which have been categorized as high income for two consecutive years.”