India plans to allow Sri Lanka up to 12 years to repay its debt to help ease the financial burden on the country, India’s Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC) Ltd’s Chairman-cum-Managing Director M. Senthilnathan said. Sri Lanka, facing its worst economic and political crisis in over seven decades, owes $7.1 billion to bilateral creditors— $3 […]

CP Chairman DEW G says lawmakers here should be aware of what is going on in the world. The Parliament cannot turn a blind eye to global developments, the former MP said, pointing out that the ongoing Ukrainian crisis underscored the need for greater understanding of international affairs as the rapid developments taking place with […]

by Rajan Philips Last week saw a spate of summits underscoring the global economic and geopolitical headwinds that governments and countries have to cope with and navigate through. First, there was the visit to China by the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. This was followed by a state visit to Washington by India’s Prime […]

By Prabhat Patnaik After Sri Lanka and Pakistan, Bangladesh has become the third country in our neighbourhood to become afflicted by a serious economic crisis. It has asked for a $4.5 billion loan from the IMF, apart from $1 billion from the World Bank and $2.5-3 billion from multilateral agencies and donor nations. Though the […]

By Chani Imbulgoda “We suffer today, because leaders in the past have failed to govern this country properly”. Oh, the predecessor has not done things well, they all have let the place go haywire”. Familiar excuses… When one takes over the leadership be it the country, be it an organisation, or be it a new […]

India has done more for Sri Lanka than the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Union Minister for External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar, has told the Indian Express. The IE story, filed from Ahmedabad, said: The Modi government, he [Jaishankar] underlined, is working on developing an “extended neighbourhood” that involves islands in the Indian Ocean, Gulf countries and […]

CPC, CEB need to recover costs until end of Fund’s loan package By Rathindra Kuruwita The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) and Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) had to recover costs until the end of the IMF programme, Sarwat Jahan, IMF Resident Representative in Sri Lanka, told a press conference in Colombo yesterday. The IMF also wanted the […]

By Shamindra Ferdinando National Freedom Front (NFF) leader Wimal Weerawansa on Tuesday alleged that having failed to thwart Ranil Wickremesinghe’s ascent to presidency, the US was now working with the UNP leader to achieve its objectives. MP Weerawansa, the Chairman of the Uththara Lanka Sabhagaya said that President Wickremesinghe already consented to three of the […]

• Says existing system of international debt schemes hinders vulnerable, developing economies • Urges for political will at global level to reform international financial architecture • Requests for support in debt restructuring, debt sustainability and adequate climate financing By Sanath Nanayakkare Shehan Semasinghe, State Minister of Finance speaking at the UN ECOSOC Financing for Development ...

While the days of good news are going on for India, the latest good news is that our country’s currency, the rupee, is gradually making its place and influence among countries of the world. Seeing the increasing role of India in international trade, the countries of the world are coming forward to do financial transactions […]

Canadian Government’s obligations to Sri Lanka consequent to Ontario’s Bill 104, viewed within concepts of “Diplomatic Protection”, “regionalism versus international law” as well as the “Vienna convention 1961” By Chandre Dharma-wardana The provincial government of Ontario passed a bill (Bill 104) implying that a genocide of Tamils occurred in Sri Lanka, and int...

By Noah Berman A wave of darkness engulfed Pakistan on January 24 as its aging power grid strained to meet the country’s demand for electricity. The massive outage was the latest in a series of blackouts that have become a chronic symptom of Pakistan’s ailing and climate-vulnerable economy

By Shamindra Ferdinando Eric Walsh presented his credentials to President Ranil Wickremesinghe, on Feb. 02, at the President’s House in Kandy. Wickremesinghe was flanked by Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, PC, and Presidential Secretary Saman Ekanayake. Canada, with the concurrence of Sri Lanka, appointed Walsh as High Commissioner of Canada to Colombo. Walsh, who had served […]