Dr Sarath Obeysekera Many economists in Sri Lanka have debated for years. In an open economy, foreign exchange can leave the country not only through legitimate imports but also through over-invoicing, transfer pricing, unnecessary imports, and disguised capital flight. However, the challenge is to control outflows without discouraging genuine business activity. Some possible measures are: […]

Insight News Sri Lanka’s rupee is under pressure, inflation is creeping up, and the debate over “money printing” is back in the spotlight. Did the Central Bank really print Rs. 2.1 trillion? Is money printing always bad? Who is actually responsible for the rupee’s depreciation? And are we heading toward another economic crisis? In this […]

Hiru News The selling rate of the US dollar climbed to Rs. 342 today, up from Rs.340.25 noted yesterday, according to Central Bank data. This recent movement pushes the total depreciation of the domestic currency to 8.3% for the current year. Market records show the US Dollar previously hit a selling rate of Rs.354 on […]

Courtesy Hiru News Opposition MP Dr. Harsha de Silva has expressed concern over the recent depreciation of the Sri Lankan rupee, warning that weakening confidence in the government’s economic management could place further strain on the currency. Commenting on the current economic conditions, Dr. de Silva said the US dollar has risen to around Rs. […]

Hiru News The Trump administration on Tuesday proposed imposing additional duties of 10% or 12.5% on imports from 60 economies, after determining that their failures to curb trade in goods made with forced labour are unreasonable and restrict US commerce. Sri Lanka is among the 45 countries assigned the higher 12.5% rate — a bracket […]

Hiru  News Sri Lanka Human Rights Centre Executive Director Rajith Keerthi Thennakoon states that the Central Bank of Sri Lanka has intervened to control the rapid rise in the value of the US dollar within the domestic foreign exchange market by taking steps to impose an unofficial capped price for the dollar. Issuing a statement, […]

Hiru News The selling price of a US dollar reached Rs. 354.03 today (21), according to the daily exchange rates of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. The buying price of the dollar stood at Rs. 342.63. Yesterday the selling rate was recorded as 342.70 rupees.

Courtesy Hiru News A payment of $2.5 million released by the General Treasury to settle a foreign debt failed to reach the intended recipient and was reportedly diverted to a computer hacker or a third party, according to the ‘FREE LAWYERS’ organisation. The chairman of the organisation, President’s Counsel Maithri Gunarathne, sent a letter to […]

Courtesy BBC News Global Affairs Correspondent After floods devastated their village, Indrani Ravichandran and her family are back in their house, living in the only section that is still standing. They are among the many victims of Cyclone Ditwah that ravaged the country last November. The scale of the storm – and the destruction it […]

 KELUM BANDARA  Courtesy The Daily Mirror Colombo, April 9 (Daily Mirror) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) stressed today that Sri Lanka must also continue with trade liberalisation, digitalisation, regulatory streamlining, and labour market modernisation to unlock durable, inclusive growth. Addressing a media conference at the conclusion of the latest mission, IMF Mission Chief for […]

UNDP UNDP satellite data shows 2.3 million Sri Lankans exposed and 1.1 million hectares flooded as cyclone Ditwah strains infrastructure and public services December 9, 2025 Colombo/New York, 9 Dec 2025 – An estimated 2.3 million people – more than half of them women – were living in areas flooded by Cyclone Ditwah that struck Sri Lanka on 28 November. New geospatial analysis from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) shows […]

Entangled News

Courtesy The Daily Mirror If there was one thing that was sure to happen as an external factor that would affect the economy of Sri Lanka, it was the turmoil in the Middle East. This has been a constant since 1948 when Israel was established. All governments and organizations that have existed in this country […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Colombo, March 28 (Daily Mirror) – Sri Lanka has been ranked the second in the world’s most unaffordable housing markets as per a report published by ‘The Economist’.  According to the report, Cities in developing countries such as India, Indonesia and the Philippines are gaining hundreds of millions of people.  “This […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror As a response to Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, saying, while on a visit to Sri Lanka, as to how government discussions with the IMF can help recover from the impact of Cyclone Ditwah-which had disastrous effect on ailing economy- internationally renowned political economist and senior […]

උපුටා ගැන්ම  ලංකා ලීඩර් දෙවන ලෝක යුද්දයෙන් පසු අමෙරිකාව ප්‍රමුඛ බටහිර ලිබරල්වාදී සමාජය විසින් ගොඩනැගූ නව ආර්ථික මොඩලය අද වන විට පවත්වාගෙන යා නොහැකි තැනකට පැමිණ ඇති බව ජාත්‍යන්තර දේශපාලන විශ්ලේෂක ආචාර්ය ජගත් චන්ද්‍රවංශ මහතා පවසයි. එම ආර්ථික බිඳ වැටීම මගින් එම ආර්ථික මොඩලය මුල්කරගෙන බිහිවූ අධිරාජ්‍යයද බිඳ වැටෙන බවත් පවසන ඒ මහතා මෙම හැම […]

Courtesy Hiru News Russian investors are ready to put money into Sri Lanka, but what to invest in—and where—remains a challenge. This was highlighted by Russian Ambassador to Sri Lanka Levan Dzhagaryan during a media briefing at the Embassy in Colombo today. The briefing touched on multiple issues, including Russia’s long-discussed proposal to construct a […]

Rohan Abeygunawardena ACMA, CGMA Some years ago, in the early nineties, when I was working for a manufacturing company, I was part of a team tasked with expanding and modernizing one of the factories. I met a technocrat from a Taiwanese company that quoted for the machinery needed for our project. I had some reservations […]

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස් මෙරට ප්‍රධානම පෙළේ ආයතනයක් තමන්ගෙ කර්මාන්ත ශාලා වසා දැමීමට ගෙන තිබෙන තීරණය නිසා විශාල පිරිසකට රැකියා අහිමි වන බව විපක්ෂ නායක සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ දී පැවසීය. ඒ මහතා මෙසේද කීවේය. ‘ඇමරිකාව සහ ඉන්දියාව අතර ගිවිසුමක් අත්සන් කර තිබෙනවා. ඒ අනුව ඇමරිකාව ඉන්දියාවට පනවා තිබූ සියයට පනහක බද්ද සියයට දහ අටක් […]

උපුටා ගැන්ම  ලංකා ලීඩර් දෙවන ලෝක යුද්දයෙන් පසු අමෙරිකාව ප්‍රමුඛ බටහිර ලිබරල්වාදී සමාජය විසින් ගොඩනැගූ නව ආර්ථික මොඩලය අද වන විට පවත්වාගෙන යා නොහැකි තැනකට පැමිණ ඇති බව ජාත්‍යන්තර දේශපාලන විශ්ලේෂක ආචාර්ය ජගත් චන්ද්‍රවංශ මහතා පවසයි. එම ආර්ථික බිඳ වැටීම මගින් එම ආර්ථික මොඩලය මුල්කරගෙන බිහිවූ අධිරාජ්‍යයද බිඳ වැටෙන බවත් පවසන ඒ මහතා මෙම හැම […]

Kamanthi Wickramasinghe   Courtesy The Daily Mirror There are two groups who’ll get reductions too, first is commercial organisations, but the biggest beneficiary are those households who consume large amounts of electricity (over 180 units per month) who will see close to 50% reduction, with those who consume more, seeing larger reduction. When that happens, they […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Colombo, Jan 21 (Daily Mirror) – UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake raised serious concerns in Parliament over what he described as a growing disconnect between Sri Lanka’s record tourist arrivals and the weak flow of foreign exchange into the country’s official financial system. Speaking in Parliament, Karunanayake noted that Sri Lanka recorded […]

Conversations with Alanki

Ada Derana

Courtesy  The Daily Mirror Earnings from Sri Lanka’s tourism industry disappointed in 2025, as revenue failed to correspond with the surge in arrivals, which reached a fresh high during the year.  For instance, the country attracted 258,928 visitors in December – about 10,000 more than a year earlier – bringing total arrivals for the year […]

Courtesy Hiru News The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) expects the economy to grow by 4% to 5%, while inflation is projected to gradually rise and reach the target level of 5% by the second half of 2026, Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe said. Addressing the launch of the Central Bank’s Policy Agenda […]

Ada Derana

Courtesy Relifweb COLOMBO, December 22, 2025—Cyclone Ditwah, which struck Sri Lanka in late November, has caused an estimated US$4.1 billion in direct physical damage to buildings and contents, agriculture and critical infrastructure, according to a World Bank Group Global Rapid Post-Disaster Damage Estimation (GRADE) report released today. This damage is equivalent to about 4 percent of Sri […]

Hiru News Cyclone Ditwah caused extensive physical destruction across all 25 districts of Sri Lanka after striking the island in late November 2025. This assessment, conducted by the World Bank using the Global Rapid Post-Disaster Damage Estimation (GRADE) methodology, estimates the direct physical damage at approximately 4% of the country’s GDP. The disaster affected nearly […]

Courtesy Hru News The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved an immediate disbursement of approximately USD 206 million under the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) to assist Sri Lanka in the wake of the catastrophic Cyclone Ditwah. Speaking shortly after the Executive Board’s decision, IMF Senior Mission Chief for Sri Lanka, Evan Papageorgiou, emphasised that while […]