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-‘. ...

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 […]

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 […]

The expanded Board of Management of the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKI) met recently, presided over by Foreign Minister M. U. M. Ali Sabry, in his capacity as the ex officio chairman of LKI. The meeting took place in the wake of Foreign Minister naming four new members to the […]

By Udari Abeyasinghe One of the principles of free education is to provide opportunities in higher education. In 2020, then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa issued directives to the University Grants Commission (UGC) to increase university admissions by an additional 12,000 students, in line with his election manifesto. Subsequently, student enrollments were increased with inadequate resources allocat...

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 […]

The fifth Asia Pacific Forum of Ministers and Environment Authorities, the largest regional environmental event in the Asia Pacific region will convene in Colombo from October 3rd to October 6th. This forum is jointly organized by the Ministry of Environment and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). During an awareness press briefing held today (25) […]

Monday 25th September, 2023 Channel 4’s recent programme on the Easter Sunday attacks may have made the Rajapaksas squirm and landed President Ranil Wickremesinghe in an awkward position, but former President Maithripala Sirisena has become an unintended beneficiary thereof. It could not have come at a better time for him; he has had to pay […]

suggests someone else be appointed to that post MP Weerasekera seeks Speaker’s intervention by Shamindra Ferdinando Controversy surrounds an alleged suggestion by the US that Parliament name a member from a minority community to represent the Parliamentary Oversight Committee on National Security, as incumbent Chairman of the committee Rear Admiral (retd.) Sarath Weerasekera, MP, cannot […]

By Sanath Nanayakkare The Global CEO Forum Sri Lanka held at the Galadari Hotel on Thursday showed a clear shift of discussion topics by Sri Lankan business leaders compared to what they were talking about just a year ago. Completely deviating from airing worries about how to run their businesses amid economic turmoil, business leaders […]

says FBI, Australian Federal Police have concluded their probes with no new findings By Rathindra Kuruwita State Minister of Defence Pramitha Bandara Tennakoon said in Parliament on Thursday (21) that ‘Sonic-Sonic’ was the code name given to a local intelligence official, who was entrusted with extracting information from the National Thawheed Jamma’ath (NTJ). Abu Hind […]

by Neville Ladduwahetty In order to assuage the apprehensions of India regarding the intended arrival of the Chinese research vessel Shi Yang 6 to Sri Lanka, an informed source of the National Aquatic Resources Research Agency (NARA) is reported to have said “a team of officials from the NARA would board Shi Yang 6 to […]

President Ranil Wickremesinghe addressed the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday (21)  on the theme “Rebuilding trust and reigniting solidarity” and its relevance to Sri Lanka’s recent challenges. He mentioned how Sri Lanka faced significant social, economic and political challenges in the past year, including threats to democratic traditions but has managed to […]

By Shamindra Ferdinando Deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch (HRW) Meenakshi Ganguly says Sri Lanka could request foreign governments to prosecute those responsible for human rights violations coming under the purview of relevant jurisdictions. Stressing the responsibility on the part of Sri Lanka to indict the accused, Ganguly said Sri Lanka could ask foreign […]

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Acting Finance Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya during a press conference held today (21) at the Presidential Media Center, focusing on the theme of ‘Collective Path to a Stable Country’ said that over the past year, the government successfully increased the country’s foreign reserves from 1.8 billion dollars to 3.8 billion dollars. He added that in August […]