In the time tested form of the parliamentary system of governance there is the concept of  Cabinet Responsibility (Ministerial Responsibility) where ministers are said to be ‘collectively responsible’ for government policy. In Sri Lanka’s fast evolving constitutional form of government – particularly under President Mahinda Rajapaksa – the cabinet itself has become a tremendous joke .....

Relevance to microfinance and total financial inclusion Section 10 (2) of the Finance Business Act No. 42 of 2011, provides that: no other person other than a finance company and an institution specified under s. 10 (6), shall use the words ‘finance,’ ‘financing,’ or ‘financial’ as a part of its name or description, except with ...

Ahead of Friday's AGM, Pan Asia Bank Plc (PABC Bank) Board of Directors yesterday appointed Nimal Perera as the Chairman and Eshana de Silva as the Deputy. Nimal was previously the Deputy Chairman and was elevated as the incumbent senior banker A.G. Weerasinghe is up for retirement. The new appointments are effective from 2 April. ...

Veteran banker Eastman Narangoda today stepped down as Chairman of Seylan Bank after a record-making three year tenure at its helm. Making the announcement at the Bank’s AGM yesterday Narangoda cited “personal reasons” for his decision. Appointed as Chairman of Seylan Bank PLC on 30 December 2008, Eastman Narangoda was a key figure who instrumented ...

Lankan born Gishan Dissanaike, the Adam Smith Professor of Corporate Governance, University of Cambridge will share key insights to the good, bad and the ugly of insider trading at seminar on Monday jointly organized by the Institute of Chartered Corporate Secretaries and  Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in partnership with the Daily FT. Dissanaike will ...

HSBC has appointed Kanchana G. Hewavitharana as Chief Financial Officer for HSBC Sri Lanka and Maldives and Michael J.F. Hung as Chief Risk Officer for HSBC Sri Lanka and Maldives. Both Kanchana and Michael arrived to the country from overseas postings in HSBC Hong Kong and Vietnam, respectively. Kanchana, who succeeds Fadhil Jiffry, began his ...

After 30 years of violence, northern Sri Lanka is opening up to tourism Saying I’m going on holiday to Sri Lanka elicits one of two reactions from my friends. There’s the ooh-elephants-temples-cocktails-at-sunset-lucky-you! brigade. And then there are my friends who read the newspapers. “Which beach did you say you’re staying on?” emails a friend. “The one where ...

The entry in to Sri Lanka by Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Berhad via John Keells Holdings (JKH) is being hailed as a all round boost for the country, the Colombo stock market as well as the premier blue chip. JKH which has many first to its credit is also the first stock on ...

My column today is an attempt to focus our attention on a few less spoken or untold developments that may have a profound influence on how we carve our way through in creating a desirable social, economic and political future for mankind on this only planet of ours. While I will not specifically touch on ...

An eminent panel of speakers will address the International Marketing Conference 2012 organised by the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM) to be held at Hotel Galadari on Thursday, 1 March. GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH) Sri Lanka Director of Marketing Subroto Geed will make a presentation on ‘Practical Insights into Brand Adaptation vs Standardisation’. An ...

Top apparel exporter supports workshop on sustainability at AIESEC Sri Lanka event Sri Lanka’s top apparel exporter Brandix extended its globally-acclaimed commitment to the environment to the youth by supporting a forum on the sustainability of the environment, held as part of the first-ever Sri Lanka International Youth Forum of AIESEC, the world’s largest student-run ...

Following are some responses from three economists to the guest column by Chandra Jayaratne titled ‘Important issues’ for Sri Lankan legislators, the Executive, policymakers, Central Bankers, economists and thought leaders to ponder over published on 2 February 1) I disagree with the Stiglitz-Krugman line. My diagnosis is that Europe is in this mess for two ...

Rapidly expanding, Divasa Finance Limited recently announced the appointment of Prof. Arjuna De Silva and Mr. Vasula Premawardhana as non-executive directors of the company. Prof. Arjuna De Silva (MBBS, MD, MSc [Oxon], FRCP [Lond], FCCP) is a professor in medicine at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka. He obtained the MRCP (UK) ...

Following is the keynote address delivered by Senior Minister of Human Resources D.E.W. Gunasekera at the South Asian Regional Consultative Seminar on Human Development and Measurement of Human Development Progress, held at the IPS Auditorium from 30-31 January 2012 Public understanding of human development was galvanised by the appearance of the first Human Development Report ...

Increasing risks and probability of natural disasters Consider the volcanic eruptions in Iceland and Congo, the destructive earthquakes that hit Christchurch, eastern Turkey and the East Coast of Tohoku in Japan, as well as the recent flooding in Thailand and one thing becomes clear about natural disasters – their risks, probability and consequences are higher ...

Ms. Sharmini Coorey, who has worked at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since 1986, on Monday was named to a top post as the head of the new IMF Institute, the fund announced.It said the new department is focused on helping member states build capacity and develop their key economic and financial institutions. “The new department will be formed by merging the IMF Institute and the Office of T...

The Australian College of Business and Technology (ACBT) in association with Australian government-owned Edith Cowan University (ECU), offers students who have completed their Advanced Level examinations an opportunity to receive a globally recognised Australian degree qualification right here in Sri Lanka. Edith Cowan University is listed in the Commonwealth Universities yearbook and the Internat...

Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna announced in Colombo a substantial expansion in the scholarships currently being offered by Government of India to meritorious Sri Lankan students. Under this initiative, the number of scholarships and Self-Finance slots for Undergraduate, Masters and Phd Courses is being increased from the existing 113 slots to 270 per year. ...

Facing the short-term economic challengesThe macroeconomic imbalances Sri Lanka has achieved a growth rate of 8.3% last year and inflation fell to 4.9% year-on-year in December 2011. These are noteworthy achievements at a time when the global economic landscape has been hostile with a slowdown in the US and a crisis in Europe; key markets ...

‘A ruler with a depleted treasury eats into the very vitality of the citizens and the country. A ruler, who impoverishes his own people or angers them by unjust exactions will also lose their loyalty Impoverishment, greed and dissatisfaction are engendered among the subjects, when the ruler among other things (i) fails to give what ought ...

LTTE rump groups and pro-LTTE organisations are trying hard to achieve their separatist ideology in the countryDefence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Tuesday said that there is a possibility of the re-emergence of the LTTE in Sri Lanka, as LTTE sympathisers abroad are still struggling to achieve the LTTE’s separatist ideology in the country. He made ...

“Our sense is that if we do not act boldly and if we do not act together, the economy around the world runs the risk of a downward spiral of uncertainty, financial instability and potential collapse of global demand… we could run the risk of what some commentators are already calling the lost decade” – ...

If the Governor of Central Bank has an urge to enter politics, he should come to Parliament without playing politics inside the CB, charges United National Party Parliamentarian and well-known Economist Dr. Harsha de Silva. Dr. de Silva notes that Governor Nivard Cabraal should respect the sanctity of the Central Bank and therefore if Cabraal ...

I would like to thank the Organisation of Professional Associations for inviting me to be the Guest of Honour at this Induction Ceremony. I also take this opportunity to wish the incoming President and the members of the Council every success in taking this organisation to greater heights in future. Sri Lanka today is a ...

A Sri Lankan has been awarded one of the most prestigious international scholarships to network with the next generation of Asian leaders by the Government of Singapore. Duminda Ariyasinghe, Executive Director (Investment Promotion and Media) at the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI), has been awarded a Lee Kuan Yew (LKY) Fellowship by the ...

Below is an interview with Ambassador Dayan Jayatilleke published in the French Diplomatic Review – La Lettre Diplomatique (The Diplomatic Letter) Two years after the end of a three decades conflict, the lifting of the emergency rule in late August 2011 confirmed the beginning of a new era for Sri Lanka. With the recent discovery of ...

The third year undergraduates of the University of Colombo’s Business Administration degree program visited the Colombo Stock Exchange recently. The group of 120 undergraduates was introduced to the basics and inner working of Sri Lanka’s dynamic Stock Exchange through a discussion and a visit to the trading floor. The field visit was organised by the ...

Sampath Bank with effect from 1 January has got a new Chairman and several new youthful additions to its Board of Directors. The Bank announced on Friday that at a Board of Directors meeting held on 29 December Chairman I.W. Senanayake decided to step down with effect from 31 December. Whilst accepting this decision the ...

An International Research Conference on Transdisciplinary Perspective on Accounting will be held in Sri Lanka on 4 and 5 January at the Central Bank’s Centre for Banking Studies Auditorium at Rajagiriya, Colombo from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The conference has been jointly organised by the Department of Accounting of the University of Sri Jayawardenapura, ...

Central Bank has approved the five new nominees to the Board of Sampath Bank Plc in place of an equal number retiring by next week. The five nominees who are qualified and professionals in their respective fields are former International Finance Corporation (IFC) Sri Lanka and Maldives Resident Representative Sanjiva Senanayake, Orit Apparels Chairman Channa ...