From a philosophical point of view, Islamic financial markets are actually risk-sharing stock markets with moral issues defined by the shariah. So far, few Muslim countries have used stock markets to make social change. A third way, therefore, is already technically feasible. All it takes is some courage to think and act ou-of-the-box. By ANDREW […]

By Stella Yifan Xie HONG KONG—The sharp slowdown in China’s growth in the past year is prompting many experts to reconsider when China will surpass the U.S. as the world’s largest economy—or even if it ever will. Until recently, many economists assumed China’s gross domestic product measured in U.S. dollars would surpass that of the […]

by Dayan Jayatilleka, PhD Watching Mikhail Gorbachev who died last week at the World Festival of Youth and Students in the Summer of 1985, I had a thought which I later recorded in an article in the Sri Lankan newspapers. I felt, and wrote, that “at last we have a Soviet leader we do not […]

Electricity subsidies, surcharges, and rooftop solar units: by Dr Tilak Siyambalapitiya The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) altered the CEB’s proposed prices and price structure, then amended its own proposal, and announced higher electricity prices, to be effective from 10 August 2022. Neither the CEB nor the PUCSL presented, to customers, the actual […]

The Minister of Finance has repeatedly told the public that the government would pay debts of the nation, owed to foreigners, and also maintain standards of living, both at the same time. Nobody can do that. Nobody can make an omelette without breaking an egg. In that degree it is a lie, no not even […]

Ansuman Bhagat’s advice: “Build yourself up to stand out and be recognized in a crowd.” is the perfect quote for this article on an outstanding young man, who surely will go places and make his family, his mentor Elmo Jayawardena, and Sri Lanka proud of him. I have just had a friendly chat with him […]

President Wickremesinghe has been making repeated calls for an interim all-party government.

By Haroon Janjua Despite gaining independence 75 years ago, Pakistan has yet to rid itself of economic and political crises. As Pakistan marks 75 years of independence this weekend, Islamabad has not planned any special events, aside from a flag-raising ceremony, a fireworks display in the capital and the introduction of a new 75 rupee […]

No sign of abolishing price controls

A new Director-General and Chief Executive Officer has been appointed to the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL). P.A. Jayakantha, who was serving as the Additional Director-General of CAASL, was appointed to the position. Jayakantha, who was commissioned officer in Sri Lanka Air Force, joined the Civil Aviation Authority in 2004 as a civil […]

by Chandre Dharmawardana, chandre.dharma@yahoo.ca. The forex crisis had forced the government to jettison its initial set of economic managers of the Central bank who looked for home-grown solutions and opposed dealing with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The President re-instated a set of managers whose ideas were more orthodox and aligned with the neo-liberal bankers […]