Increasing female labour force participation has been a challenge for the country. These challenges are even greater for night-work and shift-work (hence referred to as non-standard work).

Sri Lanka is experiencing a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and cities and urban centres have become the hotspots of vulnerability. With their relatively favourable economic conditions and extensive transport networks, cities attract migrants fr

The Export Development Board (EDB) is pleased to see an export-focused budget, which will support strong export growth, led by investment, value addition and maximising our Sri Lankan natural resources. This is a pivotal change in Sri Lanka’s growt

Prime Minister and Finance Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa presented the following Budget for 2021 in Parliament yesterday, considered as the 75th budget report of the country.

Sri Lanka is identified as one of the most vulnerable middle-income countries to the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The present global pandemic has accelerated the actions of more people using computers and telecommunication-linked facilities for purposes of commercial and domestic communication.

On average, a tobacco-user household spends nearly Rs.2000 per month on tobacco, constituting 4 percent of the household budget. Spending on tobacco can drive out other critical expenditures, including basic needs. This crowd-out effect would be grea

This concept termed ‘new international economic order’ is not a new one – it’s a 50-year-old concept to promote the interests of developing countries vis-à-vis developed countries in early 70s. This is relevant now because the international

Amidst the severe disruptions triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important for economies to formulate and implement effective policies to mitigate the negative impacts induced by the crisis. As noted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), t

Now that the executive and legislature have all that they asked for it is time to get down to the most critical aspect of business – meaningful action!

Savings itself is an education. A person who has practised saving will develop many virtues, such as patience, thrift, financial discipline, order, planning, self-control, etc. without much effort. Spending less or being thrifty is not a mere concept

Urbanisation has intensified many of the most pressing global challengesover the last few decades. Today, responding to the COVID-19 pandemic has become top priority for the vast majority of towns and cities across the world, which account for over 9

The Prime Minister’s proposal to ban cattle slaughter has been apparently endorsed by the government MPs. Have they considered in depth its consequences on animal and milk production? Moreover, the self-deceptive and ridiculous rule of banning sell

In recent times, a great deal of ink has been spilled over the sport of identifying problems in Sri Lanka’s plantations sector, assigning blame. This is an approach that does little to solve the real underlying challenges that have held our industr

Global poverty is expected to increase for the first time in over 20 years, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Up to 115 million people worldwide will fall into extreme poverty this year.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread with over one million lives tragically lost so far. Living with the novel coronavirus has been a challenge like no other but the world is adapting.

Financial Inclusion is essential for continuous and sustainable economic development, according to IFC. This is no exception for Sri Lanka despite showing strong numbers in bank penetration.

DFCC Bank is renowned as a national icon, with a legacy of over 65 years of contributing to the nation. With DFCC it is not just about banking but it believe in partnerships and it is most heartening to note that these relationships have lasted throu

The Sri Lankan economy is likely to face a contraction in 2020, as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic but there is potential for this to be followed by a sharp V-shaped economic recovery.

The proud Sri Lankan history has been nurtured by the scriptures and other systems since the visit of Arahat Mahinda and the literacy rate of Sri Lankans has been aptly proved by their ability to grasp modern technology in relation to main fields suc

Like many countries, Sri Lanka continues to face a daunting economic landscape. The World Bank projects economic contraction of -6.7 percent, ADB -5 percent and IMF -4.6 percent for 2020. Even the most pessimistic of these projections is not unfavour

Programmatic Colombo, the first event of its kind, was successfully held in Sri Lanka recently, organised by Adstudio.Cloud, at The Kingsbury Hotel, Colombo.

It was reported that the trade deficit to end-August 2020 was US $ 3.8 billion, compared with US $ 4.8 billion to end-August 2019. There is no doubt that the current reforms will provide solutions to some of the structural issues in the economy. Yet,

Following is a response to the article titled ‘The case for state-supported maternity leave benefits in Sri Lanka’, published on September 24, 2020, in Mirror Business, by Verité Research.

Investors must not react impulsively to the news of the emergence of the new COVID-19 cluster in Sri Lanka. In a special report, leading stockbroking firm Asia Securities (Pvt.) Ltd, exploring the impact of COVID-19 resurgence in several regional eme

Cabinet approves gas and oil policy An agency to be established before calling for bids Talks are underway to acquire oil tanks leased out to India Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila spoke to Daily Mirror about the oil and gas policy of Sri Lanka and t

The world economy is predicted to contract by -4.9 percent in 2020 (International Monetary Fund, 2020). The performance of individual countries during the COVID-19 pandemic varies widely.

During these unprecedented times, businesses need data to forecast potential outcomes and navigate market turbulence and project ‘the bottom’. If it’s a corporate or a credit situation, companies are trying to figure out how bad things will be

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed debt levels to new heights. Compared to end-2019, average 2021 debt ratios are projected to rise by 20 percent of GDP in advanced economies, 10 percent of GDP in emerging market economies and about 7 percent in low-in