Confusion confounded: By Jehan Perera President Wickremesinghe’s appointment of a commission of inquiry to investigate existing election laws and regulations and recommend changes has come without prior discussion or warning.  It was a carefully kept secret until brought to the notice of the general public by the president’s appointment of the commission. The commission has […]

by M. Rizwan Muzzammil According to an article in ‘The Diplomat’ (2nd Oct., 23), the Sri Lankan government has committed to supplying 70% of its domestic electricity, with renewable energy sources, by 2030, with the longer-term goal of achieving a fully renewable electricity supply by 2050. The government is incentivised by “debt-for-renewables swap”, which enables […]

By Uditha Devapriya One of Sri Lanka’s most distinguished yet underrated economists, S. B. D. de Silva died five years ago, on June 15. His magnum opus, The Political Economy of Underdevelopment, remains as underrated and under-read – one could say unread – as he. First published by Routledge

… asks for early cross-party consensus By Shamindra Ferdinando Former Governor of the Central Bank Dr. Indrajith Coomaraswamy yesterday (11) threw his weight behind the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) call for far reaching measures meant to stabilize the economy. The Washington

Output growth of South Asian countries, except Sri Lanka, is projected to remain stronger than in other regions of the world in the coming years, as per the World Bank’s latest South Asia Development Update, ‘Toward Faster, Cleaner Growth’. Growth in the region is stronger than elsewhere in the world, but it is nonetheless not […]

USD 73 mn down the drain? The US Embassy is on record as having said that USAID conducted a project at a cost of USD 73 mn during the Yahapalana administration (2015-2019) to enhance the efficiency of lawmakers and be responsive to the people they represent. In terms of this project, 50 Research Assistants of […]

Not all countries in the region are growing fast, and three—Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka—are in acute crisis South Asia has emerged as a beacon of hope in the global economy, with the World Bank predicting that the region will outshine other developing regions

Friday 6th October, 2023 President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s recent interview with Deutsche Welle (DW), in Berlin, has been trending in the digital realm—not for all the right reasons, though. Thanks to it, the genre of interrogative interview has apparently taken on a whole new meaning, with the interviewee aggressively interrogating the interviewer! There was obviously much […]

By Neville Ladduwahetty President Ranil Wickremesinghe eloquently outlined the current global economic crisis affecting the developing world, in particular the Global South, during his speech at the Berlin Global Dialogue. In the course of his presentation he conveyed the fact that while the developed countries may have the strength and resources to weather the challenges, […]

President Ranil Wickremesinghe addressed the 5th Forum of Ministers & Environment Authorities of the Asia Pacific at the Shangri La Hotel in Colombo today (05), delivering a passionate speech that emphasized three crucial points: the urgency of the climate crisis, Sri Lanka’s ambitious climate plans and the dire state of global biodiversity. President Wickremesinghe opened […]

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The World Bank predicts that Sri Lanka’s poverty will increase to 27.9 percent in 2023 from 25 percent in 2022 as the country continues to suffer from the most extreme deployment of ‘macro-economic policy’ in the history of its central bank. The World Bank in a report titled ‘Sri Lanka Development Update: Mobilizing Tax Revenue […]

The World Bank revised up its forecasts for Sri Lanka s economy on Tuesday, noting the crisis-hit nation had made strides in reducing inflation and had benefited from tourism revenue as well as an appreciation in its currency.