By Dr. C. G. Ilangakoon Courtesy Ceylon Today It was with absolute pride and delight, the voters of Sri Lanka as a whole watched the address to the Nation, delivered by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on 18 November 2020, certainly to the exclusion of few political hypocrites of opportunism, rejected by the people. He articulated the […]

By Gitanjali Marcelline Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Undoubtedly, increasing the retirement age has its merits, but one also wonders if, under the present trying economic circumstances, the Sri Lankan private can manage to keep employees for five extra years. Colombo, November 21(newsin.asia) : When presenting the budget for 2021 a few days ago, the Sri Lankan government […]

Rohan Abeygunawardena ACMA, CGMA Financial & Management Consultant The Covid19 epidemic has disrupted the economies of almost all the countries in the world including Sri Lanka. The finance chiefs of both public and private sector should take a fresh look at the activities and projects under their purview when preparing budgets. The Zero Based concept […]

Courtesy Adaderana Following is a statement issued by the State Minister of Money & Capital Markets and State Enterprise Reforms Ajith Nivard Cabraal on 30th October 2020 With the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, all countries including Sri Lanka, observed a contraction in economic activity, reduction in foreign exchange earnings, decrease in revenue collection, and increase […]

Courtesy Asia Times Pompeo to visit Delhi, Colombo, the Maldives and Jakarta in coming days; US wants Rajapaksa government to loosen ties with Beijing, but it has already proposed a free-trade agreement with China Sri Lanka’s government bonds fell heavily on Friday after the United States urged the country’s government to make difficult but necessary […]

By Umesh Moramudali Courtesy The Diplomat Both the share and the type of loans from China are changing as Sri Lanka wrestles with persistent balance of payment issues. The recent visit of Yang Jiechi, a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Politburo member and previously China’s foreign minister, to Sri Lanka sparked interest among many. To begin with, Sri […]

By Shiran Illanperuma Courtesy NewsIn.Asia On the “Chinese debt trap” Kohona said that 90% of Sri Lanka’s debt is owed to Western and multilateral financial institutions COLOMBO, Oct. 21 (Xinhua): Sri Lankan exporters should particularly take advantage of the annual China International Import Expo set to open next month to boost exports, Palitha Kohona, Sri […]

By Raj Gonsalkorale 55 largest SOEs delivered net Return on Assets (ROA) of only 0.64% in 2017. The combined losses among the loss-making entities reached Rs.87bn in 2017 compared to Rs.42bn in 2016. Some are in deep trouble. The Petroleum Corporation carries a negative equity. Sheer incompetence and corruption have pushed Sri Lankan Airlines close […]

By Suryamithra Vishwa/DailyFT-Harmony Page Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Sri Lankan development specialists have not concentrated enough on the indigenous hydraulic civilization which had been the envy of the world. One of the problems of modernity could be that we have approached the concept of development totally forgetting or denouncing and being apathetic to our ancient wisdom, indigenous […]

Courtesy Hiru News The government has decided to remove import duties on several essential commodities. Accordingly, import duties on dhal, canned fish, onions and sugar have been removed. The government has taken this decision considering the current cost of living and the difficulties associated with Covid-19. Due to the tax exemption, canned fish (big) can […]

Courtesy The South China Morning Post Island’s president asks Beijing for help to disprove that Chinese-funded megaprojects involved impossible repayments Financial injection follows visit to Colombo last week by Politburo member Yang Jiechi China announced Sunday that it was providing a US$90 million grant to Sri Lanka, two days after the island nation’s president sought help […]

MARWAAN MACAN-MARKAR, Asia regional correspondent Courtesy Nikkei Asia Sri Lanka’s government led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa desperately needs cash to service over $15 billion in foreign debt. (Source photos by Reuters)  COLOMBO — Sri Lanka’s ultranationalist government looks set to receive a financial lifeline from China rather than an International Monetary Fund bailout to avoid defaulting on foreign […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Negotiations were underway for a 10 billion RMB (Renminbi) currency swap agreement between the Central Bank and the People’s Bank of China, a Minister said yesterday. He said the currency swap would boost liquidity in the country. Money, Capital Markets and Public Enterprise Reforms Minister Ajith Nivard Cabraal told Daily Mirror […]

Courtesy Adaderana The head of the high-level delegation from the People’s Republic of China, who is currently visiting Sri Lanka assures that China will continue to assist Sri Lanka for the success of the country’s development drive, the President’s Media Division said. The present status of bilateral relations between China and Sri Lanka is highly […]

Courtesy The Island Government wades into battle with facts, figures and projections In an extraordinary hard-hitting rejoinder to Moody’s downgrade of their Sri Lanka rating from B2 to Caa1 with a stable outlook, the Ministry of Finance, State Ministry of Money, Capital Markets and Public Enterprise Reforms (headed by former Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard […]

Courtesy Adaderana The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) today (02) successfully completed the settlement of the maturing International Sovereign Bond of USD 1 billion along with the due coupon payments, on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka. In a statement, the CBSL said this settlement reconfirms the Government’s unwavering commitment to honour its […]

Courtesy Hiru News State Minister Ajith Nivard Cabraal states that the export sector of the country has grown to the level that it was before the covid 19 epidemic. Meanwhile, the Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa stated at a press conference that the country is in a difficult economic situation. State Minister Ajith Nivard […]

By Shiran Illanperuma Courtesy NewsIn.Asia “It will be the main income generator for the future of Sri Lanka,” Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said. COLOMBO, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) — In September 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping and then Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa jointly inaugurated cooperation project Colombo Port City, which planned to reclaim 269 hectares […]

By Xian Jiangnan (People’s Daily Online)   The continuation of protectionism by America, the largest economy body in the world, will only result in further contraction of the world economy and aggravation of unemployment, poverty and deprivation, said Luxman Siriwardena, president of the Sri Lanka-based Pathfinder Foundation. In a recent interview with People’s Daily Online, Siriwardena said […]

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia The Lankan Prime Minister echoed the view of Forbes magazine which in 2018 listed the CPC as one of the “Five New Cities to Shake Up the Future.” Colombo, September 18: (Xinhua): Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa Thursday called for the construction of a multi-billion U.S. dollar Colombo Port City project to […]

Courtesy Ceylon Today The present Government took three immediate steps to restore the economy which had been destroyed by the previous Government, and took steps to stabilize the rupee, reduce all taxes and reduce interest rates on bank loans, the Minister of State for Finance, Capital Markets and Public Enterprise Restructuring, Ajith Nivard Cabraal stated. […]

Courtesy Adaderana September, 15, 2020 According to the latest external trade data released by the Central Bank, country’s trade deficit narrowed in July 2020, with a more than expected rebound in merchandise exports and notable reduction in merchandise imports. Sri Lanka’s external sector recovered further in July 2020 supported by an increase in merchandise exports and increased […]

Dr. Anton Balasuriya Abstract This paper details the concept of economic development to jump start the rural economy and alleviate poverty beyond COVID 19. The strategy is to combine the presently available infrastructure and administrative facilities and bring a new dimension of human motivation factors, as well as, to adding new resources to strength the […]

Pathfinder Foundation Now that the parliamentary elections are concluded, the focus of the new government should shift to the serious business of fixing the economy. COVID-19 has hit Sri Lanka’s economic outlook harder than expected. A gloomy prognosis suggests a scenario of negative economic growth, high unemployment and rising foreign debt in 2020 and 2021. […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror I think what is most important is proper debt management. If we get that right, we don’t need to think of debt restructuring The Daily Mirror discussed the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on the national economy and how Sri Lanka could emerge from this unprecedented challenge with the least […]

Courtesy DNA The development comes as a relief to Sri Lanka amidst COVID-19 and will help in its post-pandemic economic recovery. A currency swap is a transaction in which two parties exchange principal and interest in different currencies. India and Sri Lanka on Friday agreed for US $400 million currency swap agreement. The agreement signed […]

The Prince of Kandy I am not saying it is a life and death matter when you print money. During my period it isn’t that we didn’t have excess printing but every time the treasury secretary asked me if we could accommodate the government with an excess of treasury bills I always got a date […]

Prof. Chandana Jayalath, University of Vocational Technology Finishing the unfinished effort of Millennium Development Goals is of national significance. Effectively, the MDGs are global benchmarks. Concurrent with that effort, it is important to have a focus on what Sri Lanka’s development agenda should look like beyond 2020. While completing the ‘unfinished business’, I believe, this […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has briefed the cabinet on Wednesday on the success of the economic fundamentals adopted to face the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and said Sri Lanka’s exports revenue had overtaken the imports revenue for the first time since the open economy was introduced in 1977, Cabinet spokesman […]

By Professor Richard Wolff Professor of Economics Richard Wolff explains the dire direction our economy is headed towards as unemployment continues to skyrocket.