Capital Market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) held meaningful discussions with the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of stock broker firms and other Market Intermediaries in separate stakeholder engagements in January 2024. The meetings were aimed at fostering collaborative efforts to fortify the regulatory framework and operational infrastructure of the securit...

by Jehan Perera Under President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s leadership it looks like Sri Lanka is once again punching above its weight.  The President took centre stage at the 19th Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the 3rd South Summit of the Group of 77 & China, currently taking […]

By Prof. Amarasiri de Silva Sri Lanka, renowned for its rich cultural heritage and diverse landscapes, is grappling with an unprecedented macroeconomic crisis. This crisis has given rise to acute shortages and sharp increases in the prices of essential products, creating a complex web of challenges

Sri Lanka is showing first signs of recovery as it finds itself in an election year, and therefore, what happens before the elections as well as after them will be crucial for the economic recovery in Sri Lanka, IMF’s Senior Mission Chief, Peter Breuer said on Friday. He said so at a press briefing held […]

The Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute (LKI) hosted a panel discussion ‘Sri Lanka as a Destination: From Antiquity to Modernity’ as part of its outreach activities to promote ‘Cultural Diplomacy’ in Koggala on Saturday (13 January 2024). Held with the Indian Ocean as the backdrop at the Long Beach Hotel, Koggala, this interactive discussion was organized as […]

The economic reform programme, implemented by the Sri Lankan authorities is yielding the first signs of recovery with positive real GDP growth in the third quarter of 2023, low inflation, increased revenue collection, and a build-up of external reserves, the IMF has said. Staying the course on the reform agenda is necessary for this stabilization […]

by Dr Amali Wedagedara In Sri Lanka, public policy lost in the neoliberal haze treats the market as a cure for all ills. Not only is the market omnipresent, but it is also omniscient and omnipotent. The charm of the ‘market’ that research and advocacy lobbyists are creating is so alluring that only a few […]

Chairman of the United National Party, Member of Parliament Wajira Abeywardena during a media briefing held at the Presidential Media Center (PMC) on Tuesday (16), said that the main purposes for President Ranil Wickremesinghe to get the Regulation of Election Expenditure Act No 3 of 2023 passed in Parliament early last year was to track […]

By M. Rodwan Abouharb Associate Professor in International Relations, UCL and Bernhard Reinsberg Reader in Politics, University of Glasgow Sri Lanka received a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in March amid soaring inflation, debt and a sovereign default. In exchange for US$3 billion (£2.4 billion), the government committed to spending cuts and tax […]

During a meeting between President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lankan authorities and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday (11), the IMF congratulated the country on completing the first review under its program. The IMF highlighted the positive start of the program, recognizing the challenging reforms undertaken by Sri Lanka and their significant impact on the […]

By Sanath Nanayakkare When a country is in an economic crisis, it creates an environment conducive to implementing economic reforms which would be difficult to do in good times, however, it still depends on how far the reformist leaders can shape the opinion of the people and the people’s

By DEVENDRA SAKSENA Currently, the words ‘debt trap’ have a distinctly Chinese connotation. According to the Western press, the Chinese, as part of their geostrategy, have inveigled poor nations into borrowing huge amounts from them for fanciful infrastructural projects; almost all borrower countries are in dire economic straits, because most such projects are lying incomplete, […]

by Neville Ladduwahetty What Sri Lanka has achieved since it declared itself insolvent is hailed by some with much optimism. The “relative stability” currently experienced is presented by the Governor of the Central Bank “as the outcome of a united effort from the outset” (The Island, December 26, 2023). The focus of that collaborative effort […]