North, East lead economic growth

The Northern Province has recorded a provincial nominal GDP growth rate of 14.2 percent, the second highest in Sri Lanka, the Central Bank said.

The Eastern Province recorded the highest growth of 14.4 percent.

The economic performance of the Northern Province in 2010 is expected to have improved further as peace prevailed during the entire year. The contribution to the country's GDP by the Northern Province increased to 3.3 percent in 2009 from 2.8 percent in 2006, the Central Bank said in a release.

The Bank said that the high contribution to GDP from the Northern Province would be sustained, with greater contribution from the agriculture and services sectors.

In the agriculture sector, the gross extent of land used for paddy cultivation in the Northern Province increased by 179 percent to 67,003 hectares in the 2010-11 Maha season from 24,051 hectares in the 2009-10 Maha season.