Courtesy Hiru News COLOMBO, Dec 5 – Sri Lanka will get about $600 million, on a staggered basis, from the Asian Development Bank after the International Monetary Fund releases the second tranche of a $2.9 billion bailout for the crisis-hit country, an official said on Tuesday. Sri Lanka is inching out of its worst financial […]

Courtesy Adaderana Minister of Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reform, Wijayadasa Rajapakse, unveiled plans to introduce a new legislative framework aimed at regulating microfinance institutions operating within the country. Expressing deep concern regarding the unregulated status of certain microfinance entities, Minister Rajapakse emphasized the necessity for decisive measures. He underscored the intention to establish an […]

 By AJITH SIRIWARDANA Courtesy The Daily Mirror Parliament, Dec. 2 (Daily Mirror)- The monthly income of the Excise Department has increased by Rs. 1 billion after checking fake stickers on liquor bottles, a Parliamentary committee revealed. This was revealed by the officials of the Excise Department to the Sectoral Oversight Committee on National Economic and Physical […]

Courtesy Adaderana Sri Lanka’s overall rate of inflation as measured by the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) on year-on-year (y-o-y) basis has increased to 3.4% in November, from 1.5% in October. The Department of Census and Statistics (DCS), in its latest report, said the year-on-year inflation of the food group increased to -3.6% in November […]

By Leonard Khafafa Courtesy The Standard (Kenya} A recent Daily Mirror editorial on Sri Lanka mentions that since independence, the country had implemented a number of welfare measures such as, subsidizing costs of food and fuel.” It adds that these measures were intended to gain electoral popularity, but they also led to a weakening of the economy.” […]

By Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy The Island Dr. Rajapakshe and Dr. de Silva Top SJB spokesman Dr. Harsha de Silva on Monday (20) dismissed Justice Minister Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe’s claim that well over USD 56.5 bn had been parked overseas by some exporters. Dr. de Silva also contradicted claims made by rebel SLPP MPs Vasudeva Nanayakkara, […]

by Chandre Dharmawardana  Courtesy The Island The Supreme Court has ruled (with one dissenting against four assenting voices) on 14th November 2023 that three members of the Rajapaksa family, including two former Presidents and a coterie of their close officials were responsible for the country’s worst economic crisis that ended in bankruptcy. The petition by civil […]

Courtesy Adaderana The Monetary Policy Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has decided to further reduce the Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) and the Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) of the Central Bank by 100 basis points (bps) to 9.00% and 10.00%, respectively. At its meeting on Thursday (Nov.23), the Board arrived […]

AdaDerana

Courtesy Adaderana Minister of Foreign Affairs President’s Counsel Ali Sabry has emphasised the imperative need for a comprehensive, long-term targeted program as the primary solution to address the economic crisis facing the country. Minister Ali Sabry underscored the complexity of the economic challenges and stressed that short-term fixes would not suffice, highlighting the necessity for […]

Courtesy Adaderana The targets laid out in Sri Lanka’s budget for 2024 will be challenging to meet, even with the economic recovery that we expect to continue next year, says Fitch Ratings.  The fiscal deficit is set to be wider than our current forecast of 7.1% of GDP in 2024 in light of the new […]

Courtesy Gulf Today People walk along the Pettah Market in Colombo, Sri Lanka. ReuersSri Lanka’s government projected a lower-than-anticipated budget deficit for 2024 on Monday on the back of a significant jump in revenues which are crucial to keep its bailout programme from the International Monetary Fund afloat. The government set a fiscal deficit target […]

Courtesy Ceylon Today Let me start by congratulating the Governor, Deputy Governors, members of the former Monetary Board and members of the current Monetary Policy Board. Since April 2022 they have taken bold decisions and led the demanding technical work to stabilise the economy after the deepest economic crisis that Sri Lanka has suffered since […]

Courtesy Ceylon Today As the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Law, gets established and the Bank’s practices evolve, a further strengthening of the legislation could be considered to safeguard the CBSL’s independence. In my view, three features of the law could be re-examined in that context, the last of which is the most important: […]

Courtesy Ceylon Today So how can we have better Governance around Taxation? Transparency and simplicity of the tax system are critical for ensuring good governance. Complex tax systems with multiple rates, exemptions, and scope for arbitrary decision-making open room for the abuse of power and mainly serve vested interests. By contrast, a tax system that […]

Courtesy Adaderana The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) today announced it has committed more than half a billion dollars to support the development of a deepawater shipping container terminal in the Port of Colombo, Sri Lanka, that will provide critical infrastructure for the South Asian region.  The new terminal reflects DFC’s commitment to financing […]

Vijay Prasad From 9 to 15 October, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank held their annual joint meeting in Marrakech (Morocco). The last time that these two Bretton Woods institutions met on African soil was in 1973, when the IMF-World Bank meeting was held in Nairobi (Kenya). Kenya’s then President Jomo Kenyatta (1897–1978) […]

Debapriya Bhattacharya Bangladesh needs to learn from Sri Lanka’s experience about how to face an unprecedented economic crisis and recovery strategies to avoid similar circumstances and improve the well-being of citizens, said Debapriya Bhattacharya, a distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD). Sri Lanka’s economy was crushed last year under its worst financial […]

By Dilmini Hasintha Abeyrathne Courtesy The Diplomat What three different countries can tell us about the global debt problem – and China’s role in both debt distress and debt relief. The issue of global debt distress is a matter of great concern, not just for the affected developing nations but also for developed countries and international […]

Courtesy Nikkei Asia COLOMBO (Reuters) — Sri Lanka’s cabinet approved a hike in Value Added Tax (VAT) up to 18% from the current 15% with effect from Jan. 1, 2024, said Transport Minister Bandula Gunawardana. State tax revenue of the first nine months of 2023 rose 51% as compared to the same period last year but tax collection […]

Courtesy Adaderana Sri Lanka is set to award a multi-billion dollar oil refinery project to a Chinese state-owned company after a rival bidder pulled out, the energy minister said Tuesday. Kanchana Wijesekera said the government would shortly enter into an investment agreement with Sinopec to build the refinery next to the Chinese-run port at the […]

Reuters COLOMBO, Oct 23 (Reuters) – Sri Lanka’s consumer price inflation rate eased to 0.8% year-on-year in September from 2.1% in August, the statistics department said on Monday. The National Consumer Price Index (LKNCPI=ECI) captures broader retail price inflation and is released with a lag of 21 days every month. Food prices fell 5.2% in September after […]

Courtesy CNA NEW DELHI :The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is looking for a strong budget and narrower deficit from Sri Lanka as it seeks funding to bridge the gap between government revenue and expenditure, the IMF mission chief for the country said on Friday. Sri Lanka plunged into its worst financial crisis in seven decades […]

Courtesy Adaderana Sri Lanka’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry has emphasised the need for Sri Lanka to make the ‘right calls’ concerning important investment decisions, one year after Sri Lanka saw its worst, most unprecedented crisis. On the lessons learned during the economic crisis and political turmoil the nation faced over an year ago, […]

Courtesy Adaderana Key players in the development of Colombo Port City have finalized a groundbreaking USD 1.565 billion deal in Beijing, advancing phase two development of the Colombo Port City, encompassing the Marina Project, Marina Hotel, and Colombo International Financial Centre (CIFC) Project. Accordingly, the corporation framework agreement was signed by Port City Economic Commission, […]

Courtesy Adaderana The Chinese Finance Minister, Mr. Liu Kun, has reaffirmed China’s commitment to extend comprehensive support for the implementation of a medium-term and long-term program that is mutually beneficial to both parties and aimed at optimizing Sri Lanka’s debt. The Chinese Finance Minister conveyed this commitment during bilateral discussions held this morning (19) in […]

By Global Times Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin Photo: mfa.gov.cChina will continue to support its financial institutions in actively negotiating with relevant parties, and is willing to work together with relevant countries and international organizations to assist Sri Lanka in addressing its difficulties, easing its debt burden and achieving sustainable development, Chinese Foreign Ministry […]

By Dr. Palitha Kohona Courtesy Ceylon Today China has been a major investor in Sri Lanka. In fact, after the brutal conflict with the terrorist LTTE was successfully ended in 2009, China became the main source of foreign direct investments (FDIs) in the country at a time when more traditional sources of investments could not […]

e-Con e-News ‘Before you study the economics, study the economists!’ e-Con e-News 08-14 October 2023 ‘War is robbery, commerce is generally cheating’ – Benjamin Franklin (who described people as ‘tool-making animals’) The IMF & World Bank’s ‘tough love’ and sweet hemlock about eliminating ‘corruption’ & ‘transparency’ mainly aims to sabotage a national movement focused on […]

Krithiga Narayanan courtesy DW Asia Sri Lanka’s economic reforms are slowly taking hold, but as hunger and poverty continue to rise, observers say the country still has a long way to go before people see improvements to their lives. For several years, Sri Lanka has been facing challenges on multiple fronts, exacerbated by an economic […]