Sri Lanka

Ease of Doing Business in

Sri Lanka

This page summarizes Doing Business 2013 data for Sri Lanka. The first table lists the overall "Ease of Doing Business" rank (out of 185 economies) and the rankings by each topic. It also lists the economy's distance to frontier (DTF)** measure. The rest of the tables summarize the key indicators for each topic and benchmark against regional and high-income economy (OECD) averages.

Economy Overview

Region South Asia
Income Category Lower middle income
Population 20,869,000
GNI Per Capita (US$) 2,580
Doing Business 2013 Rank Doing Business 2012 Rank Change in Rank
81 96 down 15

Doing Business 2013 DTF** (% points) Doing Business 2012 DTF** (% points) Improvement in DTF** (% points)
60.4 56.0 down 4.4
Topic Rankings DB 2013 Rank DB 2012 Rank Change in Rank
Starting a Business 33 71 up 38
Dealing with Construction Permits 112 116 up 4
Getting Electricity 103 104 up 1
Registering Property 143 164 up 21
Getting Credit 70 80 up 10
Protecting Investors 49 46 up -3
Paying Taxes 169 175 up 6
Trading Across Borders 56 54 up -2
Enforcing Contracts 133 134 up 1
Resolving Insolvency 51 49 up -2

Economy Profile

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Dealing with Construction Permits

Info

Shown below are the procedures, time, and costs to build a warehouse, including obtaining necessary licenses and permits, completing required notifications and inspections, and obtaining utility connections.

DB 2013 Rank 112 DB 2012 Rank 116 Change in Rank up4
DB 2013 DTF** (% points) 69.7 DB 2012 DTF** (% points) 68.2 Improvement in DTF** (% points) up1.5
Indicator Sri Lanka South Asia OECD

The total number of procedures required to build a warehouse. A procedure is any interaction of the company’s employees or managers with external parties.

View methodology
Procedures (number)
17 16 14

The total number of days required to build a warehouse. The measure captures the median duration that local experts indicate is necessary to complete a procedure in practice.

View methodology
Time (days)
216 201 143

Cost is recorded as a percentage of the economy’s income per capita. Only official costs are recorded.

View methodology
Cost (% of income per capita)
35.4 871.3 78.7
No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Obtain clearance issued by Municipal Treasurer 2 days LKR 5,000
2 Submit development permit application to Municipal Council of Colombo (CMC) 1 day no charge
3 Receive on-site inspection from Municipal Council of Colombo (CMC) 1 day LKR 496
4 Receive on-site inspection from fire department and obtain fire safety requirements for proposed building 14 days LKR 188
5 Obtain development permit (building permit) from Municipal Council of Colombo (CMC) 75 days LKR 10,505
6 Request and receive water inspection 1 day LKR 496
7 Obtain water sanction from Water and Drainage Department of the CMC 14 days no charge
8 Request and receive sewage inspection 1 day LKR 496
9 Obtain drainage certificate from Water and Drainage Department of the Municipal Council of Colombo (CMC) 14 days LKR 24,380
10 Request and receive on-site inspection by area inspector of the planning department of the Municipal Council of Colombo (CMC) to check the conformity of the warehouse to the development permit 1 day LKR 500
11 Request and receive on-site inspection by fire inspector 1 day LKR 496
12 Obtain certificate of conformity from Municipal Council of Colombo 42 days LKR 22,575
13 Apply for water connection 1 day no charge
14 Receive on-site inspection by inspector from National Water Supply and Drainage Board 1 day no charge
* 15 Obtain water connection 32 days LKR 31,000
16 Apply for phone connection 1 day no charge
* 17 Obtain phone connection 14 days LKR 13,773
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.

** The distance to frontier (DTF) measure shows the distance of each economy to the "frontier," which represents the highest performance observed on each of the indicators across all economies included in Doing Business since each indicator was included in Doing Business. An economy’s distance to frontier is indicated on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 represents the lowest performance and 100 the frontier. Read more...

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