Peacetime Sri Lanka Will Offer Better Returns, Jim Rogers Says

Aug. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Sri Lankan stocks may offer better returns as the end of the 26-year civil war frees up government spending for investments in infrastructure and agriculture, investor Jim Rogers said.

The island-nation’s benchmark index has gained 33 percent in the past three months, the second-best performance worldwide as the army defeated the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam in May. The Colombo All-Share Index was the region’s third-worst performer in the past two years as record spending on defense strained government finances, and the country sought an International Monetary Fund loan.

“When you spend a lot of money on bullets, you don’t get much return,” Rogers, chairman of Rogers Holdings, said in a phone interview yesterday. “If governments can spend money on infrastructure and developing productive assets, then Sri Lanka’s strengths will become even stronger given that the war is over.”
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