By Shiran Illanperuma courtesy Xinhua COLOMBO, March 28 (Xinhua) — Global communities and financial institutions must unite to put the world economy back in order amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a senior Sri Lankan economic expert said here Saturday. Ajith Nivard Cabraal, Senior Economic Advisor to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa told Xinhua that developing countries like […]

By Ajith Nivard Cabraal, Courtesy The Island March 29, 2020, 6:29 pm Former Governor, Central Bank of Sri Lanka, andPrime Minister’s Senior Advisor on Economic Affairs Strategy 1: Return approximately 20% of the balances amounting to around Rs.500 billion of the Employees Provident Fund, lying to the credit of members, directly to the Members. As […]

Sandun A. Jayasekera Courtesy The Daily News The cabinet gave the nod on Wednesday (18) to allocate a massive Rs. 75 billion to settle unpaid bills of the Yahapalana government to small and middle-level development projects, fertiliser companies, banks and many other investors, goods and services suppliers, cabinet spokesman, Minister Bandula Gunawardana said yesterday. Addressing […]

Courtesy Adaderana Sri Lanka and China Development Bank have signed an agreement for a financing facility of US$ 500 million for development efforts. Earlier, Senior Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Nandalal Weerasinghe stated that the Government is in the middle of negotiating a loan from the China Development Bank, which could be […]

By Shiran Illanperuma Xinhua The island nation is facing the temporary loss of markets in the US and Europe, says Atchuthan Srirangan of First Capital Holdings COLOMBO, March 13 (Xinhua) — The Sri Lankan economy may experience external shocks due to the COVID-19 outbreak, with tourism, garment manufacturing, and tea exports to be the hardest […]

Courtesy Adaderana The government has decided to accelerate the implementation of National Programme for the Alleviation of Poverty” for ensuring food security by providing essential food rationale for the poverty-stricken population. During the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers held yesterday (04), the Internal Trade, Food Security and Consumer Welfare Minister has drawn the attention […]

Courtesy Eurasia Review Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Finance Minister has decided to increase the low interest loans from Rs. 40,000 to Rs. 60,000 in order to relieve the burden on those struggling due to the high interest charged by microfinance companies. In order to provide relief to those in the North and North Central […]

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත් වත්මන් ආණ්ඩුව ගත වූ කෙටි කාලසීමාව තුළ රුපියල් බිලියන 600 ක මුදලක් නාස්ති කර ඇති බවට විපක්ෂනායක සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස මහතා නඟන චෝදනාව ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කරන බව සම කැබිනට් ප්‍රකාශක අමාත්‍ය ආචාර්ය බන්දුල ගුණවර්ධන මහතා පවසනවා. රජයේ ප්‍රවෘත්ති දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේදී අද පැවති ප්‍රවෘත්ති සාකච්ඡාවකදී ඔහු විපක්ෂනායකවරයාට අභියෝගයක් ලෙස ප්‍රශ්න 5 ක් ද යොමු කළා.

Courtesy Adaderana Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa stated that the government will start again the mega-development projects abandoned by the previous government. He made these remarks addressing the public rally held near the Barawakumbuka interchange at the opening of the Matara-Hambantota extension added to the Southern Expressway today (23). The Premier said that the national security will […]

Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera Courtesy The Daily Mirror Government’s withdrawal of the proposed amendment to the Vote on Account (VoA) to raise additional funds, would not lead to any financial crisis in the country, Higher Education Minister Bandula Gunawardane said today. He told a news conference held at the Parliamentary Complex that the amendment was […]

Courtesy Ada Derana The economy of Sri Lanka is recovering from tragic terrorist attacks on Easter Sunday last year, says the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Gross Domestic Project (GDP) growth is projected to rebound to 3.7 percent in 2020, on the back of the recovery in tourism, and assuming that the Novel Coronavirus will […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Many moneylenders have expressed support and we will be in a position to comfortably roll over our debt service commitment for 2020, senior economic adviser to the Prime Minister Ajith Nivard Cabraal said. “If we could shrink the amount in our debt servicing package for 2020, which amounts to some USD […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Cabinet spokesman, Minister Bandula Gunawardana said yesterday he would file a case in the Supreme Court challenging the economic and monetary decisions taken by Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Treasury officials under the Yahapalanaya government. “The current economic disaster faced by the Rajapaksa government is the legacy of the previous government. […]

By Swati Bhat Courtesy Reuters SDFR, SLFR cut by 50 bps eachSRR left unchanged at 5%Inflation seen below 5% in 2020 (Updates with analyst comment, details) MUMBAI, Jan 30 (Reuters) – Sri Lanka’s central bank cut both its key interest rates by 50 basis points in an unexpected move on Thursday, citing the need to […]

Courtesy Ada Derana The World Bank has forecast Sri Lanka’s economic growth for 2020 at 3.3 percent, the bank said in a statement on Monday. In its latest report of World Bank’s January 2020 Global Economic Prospects,” the World Bank said for 2021 and 2022, it maintains the same forecast of 3.7 percent of economic […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror The government will not sign the MCC agreement as it is but will see the possibility of signing it if the four member expert committee recommends amendments to ensure the agreement does not pose any threat to the national security and the economy, State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe said. Minister […]

Courtesy Ada Derana The Sri Lankan government’s aim to kickstart its economy in 2020 will be eased with the fruition of major infrastructure projects, Ajith Nivard Cabraal, senior advisor on economic affairs to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, said on Thursday. In an interview with Xinhua, the former Sri Lankan central bank governor, said that 2020 […]

Editorial Courtesy The Island The prices of rice and vegetables have gone into the stratosphere, nay mesosphere, and sent both Citizen Perera and the newly formed caretaker government reeling. Inclement weather, which has wreaked havoc on farming areas and caused disruptions to the transport network have also led to sharp increases in the prices of […]

Courtesy News.lk The International Monetary Fund (IMF) stands ready to engage with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s administration and to continue its constructive cooperation with Sri Lanka, an IMF official said. The Fund is in contact with the Ministry of Finance to obtain further information to assess the recently announced tax measures, IMF Mission Chief for Sri […]

Coutesy NewsIn.Asia Colombo, Dec. 18 (newsin.asia) – The World Bank has approved a $25 million loan to the Government of Sri Lanka to improve the transparency and efficiency of core government and public financial management functions, a statement said. The Public Sector Efficiency Strengthening Project (PSEP) will help strengthen the institutional capacity of the Ministry of Finance […]

By Prof. Nimal Gunatilleke Courtesy The Island December 1, 2019, 9:10 pm After the release of the ‘Executive Version’ of the Millennium Challenge Compact, between the United States of America (acting through the Millennium Challenge Corporation) and the Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (acting through the Ministry of Finance), and its accompanying ‘Constraints Analysis’ document […]

Courtesy Hiru News Advisor to the Prime Minister on Economic Affairs Ajith Nivard Cabraal speaking to our news team said the government will make fresh engagements with the International Monetary Fund to implement a growth-oriented economic programme. Commenting on the possible impact of tax reductions on state coffers, he said the government would target a […]

Sri Lanka Economy CT CLSA Government co-media spokesperson Dr. Bandula Gunawardena stated that certain changes have been made to taxes during the first Cabinet meeting today. Changes as below  Reduce VAT from current 15% to 8% w.e.f 01 Dec 2019 – VAT on Financial services will remain at 15%  2% NBT removed w.e.f […]

Courtesy Hiru News All forms of tax on information and communication technology have been waived. This was announced by joint cabinet spokesman Minister Bandula Gunawardene this afternoon. He further stated that three segments of tax, 6%, 12 % and 18 %, have been reduced for income tax as well.

Courtesy Ada Derana The Cabinet has given its approval to remove the Nation Building Tax (NBT), Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Tax and Withholding Tax on interests, the Co-Cabinet Spokesperson Bandula Gunawardena said today. He mentioned this during the first press briefing to announce the decisions of the new government’s Cabinet of Ministers, held at […]

Courtesy Reuters COLOMBO, Nov 27 (Reuters) – Sri Lankan shares ended higher on Wednesday, helped by gains in beverage and banking shares, while the rupee ended firmer on hopes of tax cuts by the new government. ** After the market closed, Cabinet Spokesman Bandula Gunawardana said the government has decided to reduce value-added tax to […]

By Kalani Kumarasinghe Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Colombo, November 20 (Daily Mirror): Over the past weeks, women’s rights were heavily debated as front-runners of the Sri Lankan presidential campaigns pursued the female vote like never before. Sri Lanka had its Presidential election on November 16. The promises the candidates made included free childcare. The ruling party candidate Sajith […]

Sandun A Jayasekera Courtesy The Daily Mirror A senior Finance Ministry source said yesterday the Central Bank did not release the report on the forensic audit on the Central Bank bond scam because the report puts the blame for the bond scam on the doorstep of the Central Bank. He said the CB need not […]

Courtesy The Island The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) yesterday urged the UNP government not to go ahead with controversial Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) agreement without fully examining the proposed pact. The following is the full text of the letter issued by BASL President Kalinga Indatissa, PC: “The Bar Association of Sri Lanka views […]

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Colombo, Oct 30 – China is helping Sri Lanka come out of a debt trap” and has led the island towards development by constructing ports, roads and water conservancy projects that improve people’s livelihood, Chinese Ambassador Cheng Xueyuan, quoted by China’s state owned Xinhua news agency said. Speaking at a dialogue on China-Sri […]