Amid a foreign exchange and a looming external debt crisis, Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal yesterday unveiled the much-awaited ‘The Six-Month Road Map for Ensuring Macroeconomic and Financial System Stability’, with an aim to usher in

The government will have to come to its senses with regard the ban on chemical fertilizers as the current decision is more detrimental to the economy than the supposed negative implications arising from the usage of such fertilizers, Sri Lanka’s pl

Sri Lanka’s insurance industry did well through the first six months in 2021 (1H21), led by the life insurance sector, continuing the momentum it gained in 2020, when the pandemic and its resulting health and monetary policy conditions augured favo

Safe re-opening of the economy from lockdowns is imperative for Sri Lanka to push through its recovery after the country was emerging out of the pandemic induced recession in 2020 which left large slacks in many areas and sectors, awaiting to be rega

The Central Bank (CB) plans to directly finance the country’s petroleum import bill for the next three months with its reserves, amid concerns of fuel shortages that may occur due to scarcity of dollars in the country.

The current trajectory of the consumer inflation is likely to go past the medium-term inflation target of the Central Bank, forcing it to lean towards its hawkish stance, which it set off in August to stem any more likely pressures on prices, accordi

Sri Lanka stands to lose up to US$ 400 million over the next five-year period if the government decides to move ahead with the unsolicited proposal submitted by the US-based New Fortress Energy (NFE),

Sri Lanka’s merchandise export earnings topped a billion dollars for the third consecutive month in August, with almost all the major export categories performing well despite the pandemic-induced restrictions, the Export Development Board (EDB) sa

Remittance income from Sri Lankan migrant workers slumped for the third consecutive month in August, extending the year-on-year decline set off in June this year, a trend which is partly associated with the levelling off of the pace of growth continu

Reminding the famous saying that one must never waste a good crisis, a leading economist in the country opined that there has never been a better time for Sri Lanka to make the pressing and long overdue reforms in its economy through tough revenue an

The newly-appointed Central Bank (CB) Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal this week announced plans to unveil a fresh economic stability road map shortly, prioritising stability, including plans to pull back on money printing, with a view to rebuild confid

Moody’s Investors Service yesterday said Sri Lanka’s external reserves remain still low even after taking receipts of inflows of around a billion dollars in the last couple of weeks, which helped the country to recoup part of the lost assets caus

Sri Lanka’s banks’ credit ratings are continued to be pressured by the challenging operating environment stemming from the weak sovereign credit profile and the lingering effects of the pandemic and its toll on the broader economy, according to F

An improvement in Sri Lanka’s revenue mobilisation effort requires an urgent and extensive review of the tax system, to ensure the government can meet its expenditure commitments, while the country is in the midst of one of the worst macroeconomic

Sri Lanka’s trade deficit continued to expand in July 2021 from a year ago levels, as imports surged surpassing the increase in exports, amid the rise in global commodity prices and higher imported volumes.

There were signs of excessive imports of certain categories up to July this year, reflecting front-loading by a section of traders, a claim, which was repeatedly made by the Central Bank, while partly attributing it to the current undue pressure on t

Central Bank Governor Prof. W.D. Lakshman yesterday formally announced that he is stepping down from the post prematurely, with effect from the 14th of this month.

Amid a slew of measures taken in the recent past to alleviate the pressure on the currency, the Monetary Board of the Central Bank this week decided to further limit importation of some 623 products under 11 categories, which are deemed “non-essent

Quoting a health communiqué issued by Director General of Health Services Dr. Asela Gunawardena, on September 3, the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) yesterday in a statement said the prevailing lockdown and travel restriction rules would

The Central Bank has written to banks asking them not to quote outside Rs.200/Rs.203 level for US dollars on all foreign exchange transactions as banks were quoting Rs.238 for a dollar by Monday amid exporters continuing to withhold selling dollars i

The government has ruled out any coal-based capacity additions or new coal-fired power plants as it reaffirms on the target set for the country’s power sector to achieve carbon neutrality in 2050 while meeting 70 percent of the country’s power ge

Market lending rates have began responding to the policy rate and banks’ reserves ratio hikes announced on August 19, as prime customers witness their loans becoming pricier for the third straight week as the benchmark rate climbed above 6.0 percen

The government moving to implement harsh price controls will have detrimental effects on the economy and the people are likely to experience further difficulties as the food shortages could further worsen.

Borrowers who continue to be battered by the pandemic-induced restrictions on their income generating activities are given further four months of loan relief and a host of other concessions, effective from September 01, 2021. The fresh round of paym

In a fresh attempt to rebuild the country’s foreign reserves ahead of external debt services running into billions next year, the Finance Ministry this week called for proposals from banks, investment houses and institutional investors to raise a f

Although the government is yet to reach a definite decision whether to go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or not, it has begun preparations for austerity measures such as freezing new recruitments and restructuring welfare programmes in orde

Pushing back on claims made to the effect of reversal in the monetary policy towards a hawkish stance from a dovish stance, the Central Bank said it hasn’t made a turnabout and the measures last week were predominantly aimed at addressing some of t

Sri Lanka’s fiscal deficit expanded slightly despite higher revenues during the first six months of 2021 compared to the same period last year, made possible by the higher tax revenues collected during the first three months of the year from a burs

S&P Global Ratings yesterday revised its outlook on Sri Lanka’s long-term ratings to negative, from stable, while affirming its ‘CCC+’ long-term sovereign credit ratings and ‘C’ short-term ratings on Sri Lanka.

The Internal Monetary Fund’s (IMF) US$ 800 million Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) allocation to Sri Lanka is only likely to provide some breathing space to the debt-ridden nation to delay a much needed IMF programme for a possible debt structuring u