The World Bank is issuing a new publication, the Sri Lanka Development Policy Review (DPR). This is a key report which provides an integrated view of Sri Lanka's long term development challenges for sustainable growth and poverty reduction. The report is designed as a contribution to the national debate on these issues. A key focus of the report is the unusual pattern of development in Sri Lanka. Despite sustained economic growth averaging 4-5 percent over the past two decades (over three percent in per-capita terms), poverty reduction has been slow while inequality has risen in recent years.