Cash-strapped Pakistan is poised to receive a $1.1bn loan tranche from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after a key meeting of the international lender’s executive board on Monday, even as economists have warned that the country needs deep reforms to reduce its dependence on overseas financial assistance. Late on Monday night, Pakistan’s Ministry of Finance […]

The Annual Economic Review and Financial Statements and Operations of the Central Bank for the Year 2023 points out that backtracking from the implemented and planned critical reforms will tip the economy to a state of instability. Thus, continuing with the broader political and social consensus on economic reforms will be critical to avoid recurring […]

The stock market serves as a nexus where millions of buyers and sellers converge to engage in transactions. At its core, each transaction represents an agreement between a buyer and a seller, with the central element being the price. This price is not static; it fluctuates continuously, reflecting the equilibrium between supply and demand. The […]

The chairman of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), Dilshan Wirasekera, discusses opportunities for capital raising and the stock market outlook for 2024 in the following interview: Give us an overview of the current market landscape and discuss the CSE’s overall outlook for the year 2024. We believe the overall outlook of the CSE, for the […]

ECONOMYNEXT –The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s investment arm emphasized the importance of the private sector engagement in the recovery of the crisis-hit Sri Lanka’s economic growth. Riccardo Puliti, the IFC’s Vice President for Asia and the Pacific said this when he met State Finance Minister Shehan Semasinghe and the island nation’s Central […]

As a collective body of exporters, we have been at the forefront of sustaining employment and ensuring a steady flow of foreign exchange, even amidst the most severe economic downturns faced by our nation. Our membership covers the majority of merchandise exports, which account for some 13% of Sri Lanka’s GDP. Today, we stand united […]

Apropos our news items (in The Island of 18 April) “Australia-based doc alleges her flat illegally occupied by diplomatic mission employee”, the High Commission for the People’s Republic of Bangladesh in Colombo has sent us the following response: “We draw your kind attention to the publication of the news item titled “Australia-based doc alleges her […]

On 19 April, Indians will begin choosing a new parliament for the next five years, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks a third consecutive term. Opinion polls put his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies ahead. They are up against the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (India), which groups more than two dozen opposition […]

A statement by academics of the university system We are in the midst of an existentially threatening economic crisis. With an ever-increasing debt burden and low economic prospects, we continue to grapple with uncertain economic futures and related social and political distresses. As university teachers, we are concerned about the multiplicity of recent proposals seeking […]

Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves had exceeded the five billion US dollar mark, State Minister of Finance, Ranjith Siyambalapitiya told journalists in Colombo yesterday (15). Siyambalapitiya said that in the recent past the Central Bank had bought large quantities of dollars from the domestic market as well. Siyambalapitiya also mentioned that Sri Lanka, in 2022, limited the imports […]

Somali pirates have released a Bangladesh-flagged vessel and its 23-member crew after a ransom was reportedly paid. The MV Abdullah was carrying coal from Mozambique to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) when it was hijacked off Somalia’s coast about a month ago. The pirates alleged that they received $5m (£4m), but there is no independent […]

A Singaporean court has begun handing out sentences in a sensational case, which saw 10 Chinese nationals charged for laundering $2.2bn (£1.8bn) earned from criminal activities abroad. The scandal embroiled multiple banks, property agents, precious metal traders and a top golf club. It led to extensive raids in some of the most affluent neighbourhoods, where […]