USD 4 mn available to stabilize food sector Against the backdrop of the country’s continuing financial crisis, the US has teamed with premier blue chip, John Keells Holdings, and the Hatton National Bank (HNB) to lend money to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the food sector. The US Embassy, in a statement dated […]

Four in every 10 households in Sri Lanka experienced a reduction in their incomes from June to December 2022, and one in every two households are currently relying on negative coping mechanisms to cope with the lack of food or money to buy it, a Food and Agriculture Organisation (FOA) report said. In its response […]

Jagoda stands by accusations By Shamindra Ferdinando Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella has revealed that in respect of funds that had been made available by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to procure urgently needed medicine, the entire procurement process was handled by that organisation. The disclosure was made at a hastily arranged media briefing on Wednesday […]

An estimated 5.7 million people (26 per cent of the population) or more are now in need of humanitarian assistance, with at least 4.9 million (22 per cent) being food insecure, a situation report by International Federation of Red Cross And Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said. The report issued on December 28 said the current […]

by Sanath Nanayakkare Making an interesting bet on the cost of borrowing money by entrepreneurs and businesses, Supul Wijesinghe, CEO of SMB Finance predicted a fall in interest rates in 2023 or in the foreseeable future. “Interest rates should come down next year or in the foreseeable future as a result of the measures being […]

Wednesday 28th December, 2022 Reports that the Election Commission will have to hold the local government elections soon have upset government politicians beyond measure; they are delivering jeremiads against what they call unnecessary state expenditure amidst an economic crisis. Claiming that the mini polls will cost the country Rs. 10 billion, they would have the […]

Tuesday 27th December, 2022 The 18th anniversary of the Boxing Day tsunami was marked yesterday with a series of commemorative ceremonies. More than 35,000 lives were lost in this country because most Sri Lankans had not even heard the word, tsunami, despite being members of an island nation, and ignored the early warning signs of […]

By Dr Laksiri Fernando One mistake we normally make in analysing the situation or crisis in Sri Lanka is to do it in isolation. Sri Lanka is unfortunately only a part of a world system. Although this situation is valid to almost all other countries, smaller or weaker a country, larger are the effects of […]

By Meera Sirinivasan Sri Lanka is waiting for financing assurances from its bilateral creditors, including India and China, to tap support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to Central Bank Governor P. Nandalal Weerasinghe. In September, the IMF reached a staff level agreement with Sri Lanka for a $2.9 billion package to help the island nation […]

by Nihal Jayawickrama From the best possible vantage point, Bernard Percival Peiris was a witness to the unfolding of history. In 1947, with the entering into force of the new Constitution under which Ceylon achieved self-government, he was instructed by Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake to take charge of the Cabinet Office as its Assistant Secretary. […]

Wednesday 21st December, 2022 There has been an upsurge in violent crimes during the past several months. The police are groping in the dark even where high-profile crimes such as the killing of Dinesh Schaffter are concerned. Is it that they are too busy with political work to be able to carry out their regular […]

By Shamindra Ferdinando The European Union will not continue with the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP-plus) facility unless the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa government holds the Local Government elections soon, Prof G. L. Peiris, MP, has warned. The Local Government bodies have to be constituted on or before March 20, 2023. The former Foreign Minister has said that […]

by Jehan Perera The past week was devoted to the hosting of human rights events by a number of organisations with interest in that particular subject.  Human rights have become a matter of controversy, especially after the suppression of the protest movement.  There was and is tension between the interests of those who prioritise the […]