SRI LANKA-CONFLICT-ECONOMY

A Sri Lankan beggar poses for a picture in Colombo on April 26, 2009. The central bank said beginning of April that economic expansion in war-battered Sri Lanka could fall below three percent in 2009, amid heavy defence spending and the global financial crisis. Sri Lanka's economy posted 6.0 percent growth in 2008, down from 6.8 percent in 2007.Economists say the cost of the government's military campaign against the Tamil Tiger rebels has hurt the economy, with the defence budget taking up 1.6 billion dollars this year. Security forces are on the verge of defeating the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) who have been waging a war for a separate state since 1972.AFP PHOTO/PEDRO UGARTE (Photo by PEDRO UGARTE / AFP) (Photo by PEDRO UGARTE/AFP via Getty Images)