More than 110 Palestinians are reported to have been killed while trying to get desperately needed aid in north Gaza. Crowds of waiting civilians descended on a convoy of lorries after it passed through an Israeli military checkpoint on the coastal road west of Gaza City. Israel’s military said troops fired at some people they […]

Under the leadership of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, bilateral summits and discussions at political and official levels have increased, further strengthening the bond between the two nations. On Sept 6 in 2022, Indian PM Narendra Modi and Sheikh Hasina signed several significant agreements further strengthening the bilateral relationship between […]

Religious minorities in Pakistan, including Christians, Hindus, and Shia Muslims, also encounter discrimination and persecution, notably through the country’s blasphemy laws. Advocacy organizations representing Christians and Hindus, as well as other minority groups, criticize the electoral system, asserting its undemocratic nature and its marginalization of religious minorities from mainstream po...

By Rathindra Kuruwita The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has significantly overestimated the cost of electricity production and transmission for 2024 and this is reflected in their estimated cost of production, says MP Gamini Waleboda, head of the Sectoral Oversight Committee on Alleviating the Impact of the Economic Crisis. The overestimation is around Rs 140 billion, […]

In a welcome development in relation to Sri Lanka’s regional policy, some state functionaries of the Ranil Wickremesinghe regime have gone on record as having stated that Sri Lanka would be taking notable cognizance of India’s security concerns, going forward. This is as it should be. None of India’s immediate neighbours could afford to overlook […]

Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Sabry has urged the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to refrain from allowing short-term political gains or Âdomestic vote bank politics to overtake the work of the Council.

By Shamindra Ferdinando With the presidential election scheduled for later this year, political parties represented in Parliament have stepped up efforts to forge alliances. In terms of the Constitution, presidential elections will have to be conducted between Sept 18 and Oct 18, 2024. The last presidential election was held in Nov 2019. Even though the […]

… Collective Agreement introduced in 2000 continues Successive goverments have abided by it for 24 years By Shamindra Ferdinando The controversial salary hike granted to the employees of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) had been endorsed by three trade unions affiliated to the JVP, the UNP and the SLPP, informed sources told The Island. Of the other […]

Cabinet approval has been granted to implement a project funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to provide credit facilities at concessional interest rates to existing micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) in Sri Lanka for further expansion and recovery of their businesses.

The Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by the President in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies to implement the proposed program  to provide credit facilities to existing micro, small and medium scale enterprises for further expansion and recovery of their businesses through licensed commercial banks and licensed […]

We, the Central Bank Executive Officers’ Union (CBEOU), as a professional union representing the Executive Officers of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, wish to clarify some facts, as it was evident that the discourse on the recent salary revision of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka is extremely partial and raised without proper knowledge […]

By Hiram H. Senewiratne The stock market began trading on a positive note yesterday but by the middle of the session it noted heavy selling pressure due to month- end profit takings. During the session, Nawaloka shares were suspended for trading due to heavy borrowings from HNB, market analysts said. Amid those developments, both indices […]

Adjudged overall runner-up and joint winner in Banking sector for 2022 Annual Report The 2022 Annual Report of the Commercial Bank of Ceylon was adjudged the overall runner-up and joint winner in the Banking category at the Sustainability Reporting Awards presented recently by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). Awarding the overall runner-up award […]

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 assets which they are planning to dispose […]

… seeks opportunity to tell Parliament its side of story  No salary increases for Central Bank workers until 2027 Trade unions, etc., agreed to pay hikes by Shamindra Ferdinando The Governing Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), embroiled in an ongoing controversy over recent salary hikes granted to its employees, has sought […]

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has requested the President, in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, for an opportunity to apprise the Members of Parliament, through an appropriate Parliamentary Committee, of the process and rationale behind the recent salary hike for CBSL employees.

State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe has suggested that officials of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) be summoned before the parliamentary Committee on Public Finance (COPF), for clarifications pertaining to the recent increase in salaries of CBSL staff.

ECONOMYNEXT –The Asian Development Bank (ADB) expects Sri Lanka not to reverse its International Monetary Fund-led policy reforms despite elections soon, the ADB Country Director for Sri Lanka Takafumi Kadono said. The island nation has witnessed repeated reversals of policy reforms in the past due to greedy politicians who misled  the people to vote for […]