A highly appreciative skill of the Pakistani administration is their extensive theatricals which can deceive the most intelligent of men. Lengthy speeches in the parliament are converted into minutes packed with wise counsel. After collecting enough praises and spewing venom on the opposition, they end up ultimately doing what they would do anyway — putting […]

By Prof. Nalin Abeysekera Sri Lankans are celebrating the traditional New Year, and we can see that despite many obstacles people wanted to move back to their normal lives. The country has suffered three different blows––the Easter Sunday attack, Covid-19, and the economic crisis. They have caused many hardships for the general public. There has […]

By C. A. Chandraprema We now live in a digital world dominated by the social media, where information or disinformation coming through our mobile phones has more to do with forming public opinion than the plainly visible and palpable reality and well-established facts and data. Sri Lanka recently marked the 75th Anniversary of its Independence in […]

Reforms to be introduced to end ‘media abuses’ President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday said that the government was not in a position to lower the taxes. Delivering his second government policy statement to inaugurate the Fourth session of the Ninth Parliament, the President said: “Some people say that the primary taxable income should be raised from […]

Thursday 9th February, 2023 President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who presented his government’s policy statement in Parliament, yesterday, sounded like a seasoned insurance sales agent with glib phrases rolling off his experienced tongue; he sought to scare the public and infuse them with hope, at the same time, to sell his policies. The knee-jerk reaction of the […]

Dr. Jaishankar is in Sri Lanka to help under the “neighborhood first” strategy of India By R. R. M Lilani  Dr. Jaishankar, India’s Foreign Minister, who is scheduled to arrive in Sri Lanka on January 19, 2023, has made another ‘neighbourhood first’ agreement with Sri Lanka by backing the country’s delayed debt restructuring programme with […]

officials responsible for the country’s economy were quizzed […]

“A time to say goodbye and a time to say hello. A time to bid farewell and a time to look forward. A time to let go and a time to learn new things, that’s what happens when the New Year rings in.” Catherine Pulsifer We have said goodbye to a crime filled year of great […]

Australian Government-funded Skills for Inclusive Growth Program (S4IG), managed by Palladium International Group entered into an MoU with Cinnamon Hotel Management Ltd (CHML) to achieve several strategic results in Colombo recently. S4IG is a programme by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in accordance with the terms of a subsidiary agreement signed on […]

By Uditha Devapriya In my essay on H. D. Premaratne, I pointed out that Premaratne and Vasantha Obeyesekere were responsible for much of the changes that swept through the Sinhala cinema in the 1970s. Basically, they helped shatter the distinction that had prevailed until then between an artistic and a commercial cinema. Both directors focused […]

By Shamindra Ferdinando Foreign Minister Ali Sabry has reiterated that a handful of persons who advised President Gotabaya Rajapaksa caused the unprecedented economic meltdown. Sabry has alleged that politicians, officials, public sector as well as the trade unions are responsible for the crisis. The Minister said so in response to ‘Hiru’ anchor Chamuditha Samarawickrema seeking […]

By Shamindra Ferdinanado State Finance Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya has said that Sri Lanka wouldn’t have ended up being bankrupt if previous governments had adhered to agreements with the International Monetary (IMF). Reiterating that the country is experiencing the worst ever economic crisis, lawmaker Siyambalapitiya warned that the government would be under IMF scrutiny this time [...

That means authorities we should not talk about debt restructuring parameters

Friday 5th August 2022 Sri Lanka’s struggle to shore up its crumbling economy continues, and there are no signs of promised foreign assistance materialising anytime soon. The Cabinet has just retained the services of some foreign firms for external debt restructuring, which is one of the main