Tyranny of the international capital markets Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, ex-Central Banker and International Civil Servant, did not mince words when he addressed the country’s exporters last week. The veteran economist, having made an assessment of the risks associated with Sri Lanka’s external sector crisis, warned that the country will have to grapple with “the tyranny ...

Sri Lanka’s weekly tea auction has seen small leaf teas fetching low prices and the highly priced tippy varieties going unsold, as Iran, the main buyer of those teas is struggling to access foreign exchange. “This could be attributed to Iran’s lack of access to foreign exchange and other sanction measures”, added John Keells tea brokers ...

Reuters: Sri Lanka’s stock market slipped to a one-week low on Tuesday in low volume and turnover as investors held off amid negative sentiment about a credit shortage and uncertainty after the Head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) resigned. The island nation’s main share

Sri Lanka’s Central Bank today further devalued the rupee by moving it up by 30 cents to set a conversion rate of 114.20 per dollar from Rs. 113.90 levels set yesterday, to reflect the government’s 3% devaluation. However the bank once again went back to the original position of Rs. 113.90 per dollar by around 1 ...

In Sri Lanka there is some times a perception that there is a lack of skilled workers to fill positions at management levels. Some employers would say they have difficulty filling positions because of a talent shortage. Some of the complaints about skill shortages simply could be that employers

By Kusal Perera Groundviews.org: The media these few days, especially the English media, provides unusually high anti government coverage to the government’s latest move to push through a bill, classified as urgent. Titled “Revival of the Underperforming and Underutilised Assets Bill,” it sent many stories spinning round Colombo circles. More politically savvy circles talked abou...

A reader of My View on popular fallacies of currency appreciation published in the previous few weeks has directed a series of questions to me. What is Central Bank’s mandate? Should it just target to stabilise the domestic prices? Or should it try to maintain stability in the exchange rate? Or should it work for ...

The Maldivian administration’s key economic strategy is to engage the private sector and enable the diversification of the economy for sustainable development, said Mahmood Razee, Minister of Economic Development in the Republic of Maldives who was in the country to attend the fourth Annual General Meeting of the Sri Lanka-Maldives Bilateral Business Council recently.   ...

By Cheranka Mendis Sri Lanka’s general education system needs to up their game before long if the country is to achieve the status of knowledge hub in the economic development plans to be laid out by the Government by 2015. The system, which runs on low investment and infrastructure, questionable quality teaching and varied issues ...

Reuters: Sri Lanka’s stock market narrowly edged up on Monday from a seven-week low, ending four straight falls as investors snapped up battered shares though a liquidity shortage and global worries cooled sentiments, dealers said. The island nation’s main share index closed 0.02

Reuters: Sri Lanka’s stock market fell for a third session to a more-than six-week low on Thursday, following Asian peers on a gloomy global economic outlook, a local liquidity shortage and forced selling to meet margin debt reductions. The island nation’s main share index closed 0.45

Retail selling push stocks near two-week lows Foreign investors net sellers of Rs. 339.9 m Rupee flat despite heavy importer dollar demand Reuters: Sri Lanka’s stock market fell near a two-week low on Tuesday on high turnover and volume as retail investors sold amid a credit shortage

Last week, media were abuzz with two reports on how undesired exchange rate movements could worry governments. One was a currency under pressure for appreciation in the market and the other was a currency moving in the opposite. Swiss Franc: One way Journey to Appreciation The first was the case of the Swiss Franc which ...

The Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI) yesterday lifted the ban on the import of Lucky brand of cement following the Pakistan-based manufacturer’s factory getting a certification on quality from a London laboratory. The decision to lift the suspension imposed in June, was made at a meeting of the SLSI Council which includes representatives from the ...

THE report of the three member committee appointed to investigate the import and distribution of substandard petrol was out on Monday. Unlike some of the other reports, this one was made public much to the relief of civil society. The Committee was headed by Power and Energy Ministry Secretary M.M.C. Ferdinando and comprised CPC Chemical ...

Stock Broking firm Capital Alliance suggests that the 2.6 million tourist arrivals target isn’t a pipedream but achievable though it will be only by 2020, which is 4 years later than the Government and industry set timeline of 2016. “The Government projects 2.5m arrivals in 2016, but the industry will lack the rooms and trained ...

CEMENT, a product slapped with maximum retail price, is in crisis. During the past few weeks cement has been the centre of much public spotlight and debate. Macho-type talk by  Co-operatives and Internal Trade Minister Johnston Fernando and his lack of consultation with cement trade hasn’t helped the situation either. Let’s take stock of the ...

By Dr. O.G Dayaratna-Banda Department of Economics and Statistics University of Peradeniya Adoring the discarded neo-liberalism The Secretary to the Treasury of Sri Lanka has seemingly informed the Vice Chancellors of the Universities at a meeting held at the UGC that the “increase of the salaries of university academics or any other public sector workers ...

Tea export earnings increased by 16.1% to US$ 1,375 million last year due to both increased volumes and high prices. Ceylon tea continued to fetch the highest prices in the major auction centres of the world last year mainly due to the fine quality of Ceylon tea and the high international demand for orthodox tea. ...

Minister of National Languages and Social Integrity Mr. Vasudeva Nanayakkara has instructed the Department of Official Languages to fully implement the official languages policy of the country.  The shortage of translators has adversely affected the implementation of the policy, and as a remedial

Rice Shortage Likely In The Coming Months By Raisa Wickrematunge and Abdul H. Azeez Heavy rains lashed the island unmercifully this week. The ensuing floods and earth slips have damaged houses, affecting over a million people.  Further dangers that will only be truly realised in the months

By Austin Fernando In recent times there had been vast discussion on returning the displaced. The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), media, Diaspora, diplomatic inquiries- especially from India- led these dialogues. When certain Tamil representatives gave evidence before the LLRC the internally displaced person’s (IDP’s) and refugees’ rights and plight became secondary ...

An Interview with SB Dissanayake by Chamitha Kuruppu Admitting the Government has launched a campaign to eliminate JVP-led student movements crippling the university system in the country, Minister of Higher Education S.B. Dissanayake points out such moves should not be...

By GABRIELLA STERN NEW YORK -- Sri Lanka's president said Wednesday that rising labor costs in China present an opportunity for his South Asian country to attract foreign companies seeking an alternative low-cost manufacturing base....

by Anushka Fernando On our way to the first scheduled hearing of Northern Muslims who were expelled by the LTTE in 1990, we spotted a group of men working hard out in the open, under the midday sun, and we...

By M.Sooriasegaram The proposed Nallur Hotel in Jaffna by the Mercantile Bank of Sri Lanka has sparked off a public debate. At a public consultative meeting organized by the Mayor of Jaffna several weeks ago, Minister Douglas Devananda, who chaired...

By Shamindra Ferdinando Prabhakaran’s successor, T. S. Pathmanathan or simply ‘KP’ as he is better known has thrown his weight behind Sri Lanka’s post-LTTE efforts to restore peace in the Northern and Eastern provinces....

The Sri Lankan Cabinet of Ministers has announced plans to issue up to 1 billion US dollars worth of bonds to settle short-term debt. At the same time they have decided to negotiate for credit with the EXIM Bank of China for water supply projects in Gampha, Atthnagalle and Minuwangoda. The Cabinet has committed to ...