ECONOMYNEXT –An Indian firm is in the process of getting permission to manage Sri Lanka’s three airports including the main Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) where the there is an over saturation in foreign tourists, Tourism Minister Harin Fernando said. The island nation is expecting 2.2 million tourists for 2024, but the main airport needs capacity […]

Secretary to the Treasury and Finance Ministry Mahinda Siriwardana has said that even if Sri Lanka achieves the goal of zero corruption, tax revenue will still have to be increased to bridge the budget deficit and lessen the country’s debt burden. Referring to the Supreme Court ruling pertaining to economic management delivered on Nov 14, […]

Minister of Tourism, Lands,  Sports and Youth Affairs Harin Fernando, participating at a press briefing held at the President’s Media Centre today (31) under the theme ‘Collective Path to a Stable Country’ said that he expected 2.2 million tourists to visit Sri Lanka  in 2024 and bring in a revenue of US$ 4billion. He revealed […]

The controversial Online Safety Bill has sparked a geopolitical debate with the Russian Ambassador in Colombo Levan Dzhagaryan stating that regulations of the online sphere are solely a domestic issue of Sri Lanka, and that any interference in this internal issue by foreign powers is absolutely irrelevant and unacceptable.

, to Russia, where Vladimir Putin is set for another term amid heightened tensions with the […]

… USD 5 mn paid to Iran a month By Shamindra Ferdinando Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera has confirmed that consumers of petrol and diesel have been made to pay Rs. 50 to Rs. 55 per litre since the middle of last year to settle what the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) owed its creditors. […]

By Saman Indrajith Forty-eight-year-old Batticaloa District MP Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, popularly known as Pillayan, has been shaping the Eastern Province’s political narrative since he was a teenager. He was just 16-years old when he joined the LTTE in 1990 as a child soldier. Since then, he continued to rise in the ranks of the LTTE until […]

saw 210,352 tourist arrivals up from 151,496 recorded in November 2023. India, Russia, United Kingdom, ...

Pakistan’s election body has rejected former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s nomination to contest the 2024 parliamentary elections, with Khan’s Pakistan Tahreek-e Insaf (PTI) party accusing authorities of stopping most of its candidates from participating in the elections due in February. The 71-year-old former cricket star, who is serving a three-year prison sentence for corruption, was […]

Sri Lanka received over 1.4 million tourists by the end of the third week of December, the latest statistics released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) show. The SLTDA weekly report on tourist arrivals released on Saturday (23) shows that 1,404,998 tourists had arrived in the country by December 21, 2023. Between December 01 and 21 […]

Monday 25th December, 2023 Christmas has dawned with the message of peace, love and hope while the world is embroiled in multiple crises which have not spared even the birthplace of Jesus Christ. Bethlehem, under the shadow of war, is devoid of customary Christmas celebrations this year, according to media reports. Nothing will however diminish […]

By Rathindra Kuruwita It is up to Sri Lanka to determine whether to collaborate with Russia’s state owned Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation in building a small nuclear power plant or not, says Levan S. Dzhagaryan, Ambassador of the Russian Federation. Ambassador Dzhagaryan said nuclear

The Ambassador of Russia, Levan Dzhagaryan says it is up to the Sri Lankan government to decide if it wants to collaborate with the Russian state-owned nuclear giant Rosatom.

[An article based on the Keynote Address delivered by Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe, Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, recently at the Annual Research Symposium 2023 of the University of Colombo] Introduction Inflation affects every aspect of our lives; it is a force that shapes our purchasing power, influences our financial decisions, and […]

By Uditha Devapriya On Tuesday, December 12, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution demanding a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. The United States was one of 10 countries to oppose, the others including Guatemala, Nauru, and Paraguay, and of course Israel. New Zealand, Canada, and Australia were among the 153 countries to vote in favour, […]

Sri Lanka currently imports most of its energy needs, including oil, coal and hydrocarbons. To ease the economic burden, the island nation aims to generate 70% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.

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 […]

Sri Lanka earned 205.3 million US dollars from tourism during the month of November 2023, which is over twice the amount in the corresponding month in 2022, the latest data by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) have revealed. The revenue from tourism in November 2022 was 81 million dollars, according to official data.The […]