The Other Beer Index (Hours/Brew)
Graph from The Economist.
We recently did an index of how much a Lion beer costs at various spots around Colombo (English / Sinhala). The Economist, also, has done a beer index, this time calculating how much work it takes to earn a beer. On average, it takes 20 minutes of median wage work to earn a frosty brew (500 ml). In Germany you can earn a beer in seven minutes. In India it takes almost an hour. What’s the number for Sri Lanka?
Price Of Beer: Rs. 120
We’ll start with the price of beer. The retail price is Rs. 140 for 675 ml of Lion. With tax you’re looking at about Rs. 160. The bar price ranges from Rs. 190 at, say, Randoli Sports Bar (Rs. 234 with tax + service) to Rs. 475 at Gallery Cafe (Rs. 584 ++). That’s from our Lion Index, which really covers how much each place marks it up. The number we need from here is actually Rs. 0.24, the price per ml of Lion Beer if you buy it from the shops.
That means 500 ml of beer would cost about Rs. 120 in Sri Lanka.
Median Wages
The median income earner in Sri Lanka earns Rs. 12,500 per month. Let’s assume they work 40 hours a week across four weeks. That’s 160 hours a month, meaning they earn Rs. 78 per hour. So, and wow, it takes Sri Lankans about an hour and a half to earn a beer. Which is worse than India. No wonder people drink gal (arrack), or kasippu. It seems that we’re a terrible place for working people to get a beer.
Mohsin Hamid, author of How To Get Filthy Rich In Rising Asia, has a nice 
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I won’t add too much commentary, but just read I guess. The youngest Rajapaksa, Rohitha (Chi Chi) has given an amazing interview to the 
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Mathata thitha people must be doing something right.
IMO they’re doing it all wrong, when relatively harmless beer requires moonlighting and mooshine is the more accessible brew.
Of course they are doing it all wrong. But that won’t prevent them from taking credit for high beer prices. Most of the TV monks don’t know it’s just something characteristic to a screwed up economy.
beer is a lot cheaper than 1.80 in america. There are 30 packs you can buy for 13.99. Infact, if you buy four 30 packs you can get the 5th for free.
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