BY H.D.N.PATHIRANA  FORMER DEPUTY DIRECTOR GEOLOGICAL SURVEY SRILANKA According to the reports published in the Sunday times that the EIA report has been prepared on Sampur Power plant by a Delhi based company (M/S Mantec consultants PVT Limited) with local officials from Central Environmental Authority. This report has been prepared Under the topic Socio-Economic Environment”. The report notes that […]

By Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy The Island May 15, 2016, 9:42 pm State Finance Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena yesterday told The Island that the government intended to raise Rs 100 bn through the increase in Value Added Tax (VAT). Minister Abeywardena said that the government required additional funding to meet its requirements. Asked whether it would be […]

By Peter Koenig April 24, 2016 “Information Clearing House” – On 19 April 2016, China was rolling out its new gold-backed yuan. Russia’s ruble has been fully supported by gold for the last couple of years. Nobody in the western media talks about it. Why would they? – A western reader may start wondering why […]

මාධ්‍ය නිවේදනය මැයි දෙවැනිදා සිට ඉහල නැංවෙන බදු සම්බන්දයෙන් හිටපු ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්‍ෂ මහතා විසින් නිකුත් කර ඇති නිවේදනය මෙසේය. මැයි දිනයෙන් පසු බලාත්මක වෙන අසාධාරණ බදු වැඩිකිරීම් රජයකට බදු නැතිව පවතින්න බැරි බව අපි කවුරුත් දනිමු. ආණ්ඩුවකට තම කාර්යභාර්යයන් ඉටු කිරීමට ආදායමක් තිබිය යුතු නිසා ධනවතුන්ගේ ආදායම් මත මෙන්ම සාමාන්‍ය ජනතාව පරිභෝජනය කරන ආහාරපාන, […]

By R. M. B. Senanayake Courtesy The Island Statesmen and public interest organizations expected much from the UNP government under Ranil, which came to office on January 8th last year. They have been in office for over a year, but have carried out the same irresponsible populist policies; and done nothing to ensure sound government and […]

By Dr. Janaka Ratnasiri Courtesy The Island Two news items on the economy of the country which appeared in The Island recently prompted me to write this. One was a press release issued by the leader of an IMF team, Todd Schneider, who visited Colombo during March 31- April 11 to hold discussions with the government […]

Dr Palitha Kohona – Former Foreign Secretary of Sri Lanka and Permanent Representative to the United Nations-Courtesy – Asian Tribune – As Sri Lanka, with an administration now in power for over one year, begins to confront complex domestic and international challenges, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasingha, undertook a visit to Beijing. Unthinkable just a few months […]

(Text of a speech delivered by former President MahindaRajapaksa on the Foreign debt crisis of the yahapalana government” at the Battaramulla office on Monday 14 March 2016.) Venerable members of the MahaSangha, clergymen of other faiths, Members of Parliament, and distinguished guests, In announcing increases in the VAT and income taxes, and the reintroduction of […]

Courtesy Adaderana Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa says that his government did not take negotiations with India on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) forward due to the misgivings” expressed by wide sections of society. In a statement issued today, he said that incumbent President Maithripala Sirisena recently publicly endorsed the proposed Economic and Technological Cooperation […]

Press Release: International Finance Corporation Colombo, Sri Lanka, March 22, 2016 — IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, with the support of the Government of Canada, will invest $15 million in Sri Lankan retail chain Richard Pieris Distributors Limited. The investment will help the company expand its modern retail network, support job creation, […]

By Andy Mukherjee Courtesy Bloomberg Sri Lanka has had peace for seven years, and a new president and prime minister have been in office for the past 15 months, but the much-awaited dividend from an end to more than two decades of civil war seems to have disappeared somewhere in the South Asian island’s sandy beaches. […]