Economics & Finance
SLEFO
Sri Lanka Economics and Finance Olympiad
Sri Lanka's national olympiad in economics and finance, and the route to the International Economics Olympiad for students under 20.
- Founded
- 2020
- Selects for
- IEO
- Age limit
- Under 20
- Entry fee
- Free
The olympiad
SLEFO is the national economics olympiad. School students under 20 sit it for a place on the Sri Lankan team at the International Economics Olympiad, which is the world championship in economics and business for high schoolers.
The paper does not reward memorised definitions. Students have to reason about incentives, read data carefully, work out what something is actually worth, and defend a position with the clock running. Those are the things economists spend their careers doing.
Sri Lanka has entered a team every year since 2020, and our students have come home with both silver and bronze.
Who can enter
- Sri Lankan school students under the age of 20
- Not yet enrolled in a university degree programme
- Open to every stream, with no economics coursework required
What it covers
- Microeconomics & market design
- Macroeconomics & policy
- Financial literacy
- Valuation & instruments
- Business case analysis
- Data interpretation
The path
How SLEFO runs
3 competition rounds, each one cutting the field down further.
- 01
Preliminary Round
OnlineAn online paper open to everyone who registers, covering economic reasoning and financial literacy.
- 02
Semi Final
OnlineA harder online paper for those who get through the preliminary, with more quantitative work and longer problems.
- 03
Final
OnsiteSat in person. The five highest scorers here become the Sri Lankan team for the IEO.
Once the team is picked
What happens after the final round, on the way to the IEO.
Training
The selected team works through micro and macro theory, financial instruments and business case method before travelling.
Team Sri Lanka at the IEO
Five students represent Sri Lanka at the International Economics Olympiad across three parts: economics, financial literacy and a business case.
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