By Sanath Nanayakkare Minister of State for Finance Shehan Semasinghe said on Monday that the government is aware of the low deposit interest rate senior citizens are earning on their savings as the policy rates are taking a downward trajectory amid declining inflation and expanded economic activity. He, however, said that interest rate relief cannot […]

Monday 26th February, 2024 Sri Lanka is a nation in the hara-kiri mode. It needs no enemies; it has become its worst enemy. It continues to maintain a bunch of failed, corrupt politicians and their bureaucratic lackeys responsible for ruining the economy and hell-bent on degrading vital national

ECONOMYNEXT –Central Bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe urged the public to become informants to broaden the tax net and thus reduce both overall direct and indirect taxes. The government has raised Value Added Tax (VAT), an indirect tax to 18 percent from 15 percent with effect from January 1. The move also will see some VAT […]

By Shamindra Ferdinando One-time Foreign Secretary Kshenuka Senewiratne and Admiral Ravindra Chandrasiri Wijegunaratne (Rtd.) on Dec 04, 2023 assumed duties at the Sri Lankan High Commission in New Delhi and Islamabad, respectively. It would be pertinent to mention that Wijegunaratne previously served as the First Secretary/Defence Advisor of Sri Lanka High Commission in New Delhi […]

Monday 27th November, 2023 The SJB has commenced collecting signatures for a public petition as part of a campaign to have those who are responsible for the current economic crisis stripped of their civic rights. Given public resentment, which is palpable, the SJB may be able to obtain hundreds of thousands of signatures for its […]

Cassandra is sick to her innermost core seeing on TV daily, multiple protests of motley crowds toting banners and marching all across roads and in many instances being tear gassed and water cannoned. She is sure that like her, five sixths of adult citizens in this doomed and gloomed land are sick of these protests. […]

Let us set the record straight, officially Retired Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera recently declared that in his capacity as Chairman of the Sectoral Oversight Committee on National Security he would present to President Ranil Wickremesinghe a comprehensive report on how the war was conducted. The recent US denial of a visa to Adm. Weerasekera underlines […]

This week, China is throwing a huge party to celebrate one of its biggest experiments in engaging with the world: its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Officials and leaders from all over the globe are in Beijing to attend a high-level summit marking the BRI’s 10th anniversary. Participants expected to show up range from Vladimir […]

Friday 6th October, 2023 President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s recent interview with Deutsche Welle (DW), in Berlin, has been trending in the digital realm—not for all the right reasons, though. Thanks to it, the genre of interrogative interview has apparently taken on a whole new meaning, with the interviewee aggressively interrogating the interviewer! There was obviously much […]

by Shihar Aneez State revenue has seen a shortfall of Rs. 100 billion as of now compared to the revenue target agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), State Finance Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said.Tax cuts for political reasons in December 2019 has resulted in a sharp fall in Sri Lanka’s tax revenue to GDP ratio, […]

By Shamindra Ferdinando Justice Minister Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakse, PC, declared in Parliament that the winners of LPL (Lanka Premier League) 2023 B-Love Kandy had been sponsored by an enterprise that was banned in the country. The statement was made in Parliament on 24th August. The one-time President of the Bar Association found fault with SLC […]

By Jayantha Somasundaram (This articlecontinued from yesterday (25) is based on reporting by the international media on the events in Sri Lanka forty years ago.) “For day after day Tamils were beaten, hacked or burned to death in the streets, on buses, on trains – sometimes in the sight of horrified foreign tourists. Their homes […]

(Excerpted from volume ii of the Sarath Amunugama autobiography) During one of my visits to Colombo I got a call to see the President at ‘Breamar’. Gamini Dissanayake had told him of my friendship with Parathasarathy and he wanted me to help him repair the damage done to their friendship due to the abuse heaped […]

The muted, panicked voice came through the phone of a friend who croaked she was very confidentially warning Cassandra and advising her. Yours truly was immediately panic infected. With deep emphasis and concern the friend took her time to advise that Cass withdraws all money from banks. Cass was for once glad she was poor […]