The Parliament is scheduled to meet from 3rd to 6th October. The parliamentary business related to this week has been decided at the Committee on Parliamentary Business chaired by Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena on 22nd of September. Accordingly, time from 09.30 a.m. to 10.30 a.m. on each day has been allotted for Questions for Oral […]

By Saman Indrajith Minister of Justice, Prisons Affairs and Constitutional Reforms, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe will present the Anti-Terrorism Bill, while Minister of Public Security, Tiran Alles, will present the Online Safety Bill to Parliament on 03 October. Below are the bills to be debated during the Parliament week. On Tuesday, 03 October 2023, from 10.30 am […]

Fitch Ratings upgraded Sri Lanka’s Long-Term Local-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ‘CCC-‘ from ‘RD’ (Restricted Default), in its latest report.Fitch typically does not assign Outlooks to sovereigns with a rating of ‘CCC+’ or below. The Long-Term Foreign-Currency IDR has been affirmed at ‘RD’ and the Country Ceiling at ‘B-‘. ...

House Republicans have branded the first day of their impeachment inquiry against Joe Biden a success, saying they justified their case. But expert witnesses called by Republicans cautioned there was not yet enough proof for impeachment. Thursday’s hearing was dominated by the business dealings of the president’s son, Hunter, who Republicans allege was selling access […]

The International Monetary Fund did not reach a staff-level agreement with Sri Lanka in its first review under a $2.9bn bailout package, due to a potential shortfall in government revenue generation, Al Jazeera has reported, quoting the lender. Speaking after a two-week visit to the country, IMF delegation head Peter Breuer on Wednesday said a […]

Some of Sri Lanka’s official creditors are advocating for a debt restructuring agreement that excludes China, Bloomberg reported on Thursday (28.) This move, if successful, could have implications for how wealthier nations handle financial stress in developing economies. The proposal involves major creditors, including the US, Japan, and India, signing a memorandum of understanding with [...

President Ranil Wickremesinghe delivering the opening speech at the ‘Berlin Global’ Dialogue in Berlin, Germany, today (28), expressed the need for a comprehensive dialogue between Western nations and China, the United States of America and China and the European Union and China, as a critical component of a robust international plan capable of addressing the […]

Donald Trump “repeatedly” misrepresented his wealth by hundreds of millions of dollars to banks and insurers, a New York judge has ruled. The decision resolves the key claim made by New York’s attorney general in her civil lawsuit against the former president. “The documents here clearly contain fraudulent valuations that defendants used in business,” the […]

Police across South America are searching for the leader of a Venezuelan gang who escaped from the luxurious prison which he controlled, shortly before it was raided. When 11,000 soldiers and police entered the inmate-run Tocorón jail in Venezuela on Wednesday, Héctor Guerrero Flores was nowhere to be found. Under Guerrero Flores’s rule, Tocoron came […]

The Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the proposal submitted by the President in his office as the Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies to enter into a loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank to obtain an amount of United States dollars 200 million subject to an annual interest rate of 2% […]

The Cabinet of Ministers has granted approval to enter into a loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to obtain USD 200 million, subject to an annual interest rate of 2% with a repaying period of 25 years inclusive of a grace period of 05 years.

By Shamindra Ferdinando Governor of the Central Bank Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe yesterday (25) questioned the conduct of some MPs who sought to direct public anger at officials over the economic crisis. Alleging that such an attempt had been made last year in the wake of attacks on politicians’ properties, Dr. Weerasinghe said that problems couldn’t […]

Over 200 corporate leaders attended the second Economic Forum sponsored by HSBC recently which was to discuss and share insights into the latest global trends and opportunities emerging for economic growth in Sri Lanka. Frederic Neumann, HSBC’s Chief Asia Economist and Co-Head of Global Research for HSBC Asia along with Aayushi Chaudhary, HSBC Economist for […]

Pakistan s 40 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line, as per the World Bank, Dawn reported.