Sri Lanka's Central Bank said Friday the country's economy has been shaping well and is on course to achieve the projected annual growth rate of 5 to 5.5 percent in 2005.

Anila Dias Bandaranaike, the Central Bank's Director of Statistics, told reporters that the economy has grown by 6 percent in the second quarter of 2005 up from the 5.4 percent growth recorded during the same period in 2004.

The services and the industry sectors with 7.7 percent and 7.8 percent respectively had contributed most to the growth during the period under review.

Bandaranaike added that current growth after the December's tsunami tidal wave disaster had shown that the economy was recovering very satisfactorily.

The Indian ocean island's economy has seen a three year recovery since the February 2002 ceasefire accord with the Tamil Tigers which put an end to bloody fighting in the north and east provinces.

More than 30,000 people were killed in tsunami disaster, the worst natural disaster the island had faced in its over 2500 year history.

The construction sector directly related to the tsunami reconstruction effort had grown by 5.8 percent in the second quarter this year.

Bandaranaike said the upgrading of the infrastructure devastated by the tsunamis had continued at a higher pace during the period under review.

Source: Xinhua