This was one of the hundreds of studies done by the Research Department of peopl's Bank of Sri Lanka which stablished as the first research and development section attached to a commercial bank in Sri Lanka. The Economic Review Journal was launched by the Research Department of People's Bank, in April 1975, with the purpose of further extending its service towards the long-term social and economic development of the country. The Bank started its Research Department in the early 1970s, about a decade after the establishment of the bank itself, to provide research outputs on various macro- and micro-economic projects/programmes of the country. Designed as a semi-academic monthly periodical, the journal soon became rapidly popular and at present has a broad spectrum of reader categories, such as, students of higher and tertiary-level education, teachers, academics, researchers, planners, policy makers and other professionals in addition to its ordinary reader in Sri Lanka and overseas.
The Cooperative sector which was well established in Sri Lanka with it majour compornent known as the Multi-Purposwe Co-operative societies comprices of it's members undertook a massive task of distribution of commodities all over the cpontry since WW2.
The research department of the bank has done several studies on the progress of this sector as the people's Bank was the sole financial supporter of this sector. W.G.S. Waidyanatha, Senior Research office Research Department, Peoples Bank.emai- waidyana@yahoo.com