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"There are no other extraneous reasons such as high inflation or plummeting interest rates for Friday's stock market climb; its a direct result of confidence in the current peace moves,' an economist working on development issues closely identified with the Opposition UNP, Dr. Harsha De Silva said.

When questioned by this newspaper, he responded saying that Friday's stock market boost is due to confidence in the peace process and added "it doesn't matter who brings peace to the country - Wickremesinghe or Rajapakse - the fact is that if investors repose confidence in the peace process, Sri Lankan stocks are bound to rise."

Harsha de Silva's attack on Mahinda Rajapakse's economic policy at the time of the Presidential election was virulent to a point where a Minister once in a fit of pique called him a "second rate economist".

However, Colombo analysts continued to swear by De Silva, whose current analysis is that Rajapakse peace polices alone have boosted investor confidence and spurred on the rising stock market indice performance. It's a view endorsed by economists across the board, even though NGO analysts earlier said that the "markets have failed to react" to the peace process (Round One) concluded in Geneva.

“The new upturn in the markets shows this prognosis is untrue - and that there is real positive investor reaction as a result of rising confidence in the peace process,” analysts said. The reason has to be peace alone, as inflation is low and interest rates are high, they said.

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