This week, China is throwing a huge party to celebrate one of its biggest experiments in engaging with the world: its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Officials and leaders from all over the globe are in Beijing to attend a high-level summit marking the BRI’s 10th anniversary. Participants expected to show up range from Vladimir […]

By Jehan Perera The interest in the electoral process has suddenly been sparked off by news that the government is contemplating holding a referendum on abolishing the executive presidency.  The reported concern is that no candidate at presidential elections to be held next year will achieve the 50 percent mark to win the presidency at […]

The Department of Pension states that the department will have to face a financial crisis in paying pensions by the year 2028 or 2030.

‘Speaker’s silence meant he accepted revelation the US offered him a chance to lead interim administration’ By Shamindra Ferdinando Western powers backing President Ranil Wickremesinghe would allow him to postpone both presidential and parliamentary polls, National Freedom Front Leader Wimal Weerawansa has said.That would be in line with their overall strategy, the Colombo District lawmaker [̷...

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 […]

The Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative projects in Sri Lanka have not only laid a solid foundation and provided strong impetus for Sri Lanka to get out of the economic crisis and resume economic and social development, but also created thousands of jobs for local people, Chinese Ambassador Qi

On October 6 the Korean embassy led by Korean ambassador Miyon Lee hosted the National Foundation Day celebrations of the Republic of Korea, at the Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo. It is a monumental year to commemorate the 4355th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean nation and the 46th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic […]

Friday 13th October, 2023 A model parliamentary session held by a group of schoolchildren from Ratnapura, at the Presidential Secretariat, on Tuesday, has received much publicity. President Ranil Wickremesinghe, addressing the students, asked them to suggest solutions to their problems. The government was willing to consider them, he added. Tuesday’s event has come in for […]

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 in 1982, The Political Economy of […]

… 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 headquartered lending agency recently suspended the US 2.9 bn bailout package, pending an agreement […]

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 […]

The beleaguered dairy sector of Sri Lanka, which is facing its worst-ever economic crisis, will finally get back its say cheese moments with Indian dairy majors set to usher in a transformation in the island nation.

The Japanese Embassy in Colombo yesterday (10) said that since June last year, two million Lankans had benefited from a WFP programme funded by Japan. The announcement was made after Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Komura Masahiro attended the handing over of emergency food assistance and nutrition support at the President’s Office. Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunga, […]

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 […]

President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday issued orders to police to provide necessary security measures for Israelis in Sri Lanka The President issued the directive during his briefing to the Cabinet of Ministers, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said. PMD said: In a briefing to the Cabinet, President Ranil Wickremesinghe expressed deep concern over the recent attacks […]

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