The National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) has announced the drafting of legislation to ban the sale of single cigarettes this month. It is a welcome move, given that Sri Lanka lags behind 107 countries that have banned the sale of single s

Diversified conglomerate Hemas Holdings PLC is a business entity that stood out for making some bold decisions over the years. One such decision that caught attention was in 2013, when the family-managed company offered the Group CEO position to Stev

Child malnutrition is still a prevalent challenge in Sri Lanka. More than one in five children (under five years old) are underweight and one in six babies are born underweight.

Special Economic Zones (SEZs) can be defined as ‘geographically delimited areas within which governments facilitate industrial activity through fiscal and regulatory incentives and infrastructure support’ (UNCTAD 2019, p. 128).

Sri Lanka-India relations are multifaceted and are characterised by strong civilisational links that span many millennia. Currently, trade and economic relations are structured around an institutional and legal architecture, which includes regional p

In Sri Lanka, employers are required to bear the full cost of providing maternity leave benefits (MLBs) to their employees for 12 weeks.

After months of empty beaches and deserted hotels in Maldives, tourism operator Ahmed Waheed says he is eager to help affluent travellers trade their COVID-19 masks for snorkeling or scuba gear.

Recent media reports cites the Tobacco Regulatory Authority making an overture to a ban on single sticks of cigarettes, stating it is a gateway to other narcotic drugs and continuous smoking. The proposal adds that retailers would only be allowed to

It has been nearly 70 years since Peter Drucker coined the phrase ‘human resource’. Human resources management or HR was a significant innovation over the more ancient practice of personnel management, which was essentially about job definitions,

The tourism industry was one of the World’s largest and fastest growing industries just 9 months ago. Today, amidst the throes of the COVID crisis, it is all but devastated and gasping for breath.

Perhaps, micro credit to some and micro finance to others is the term used, misused and abused in many recent discourses on economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) sector in Sri Lanka accounts for 90 percent of all businesses in the country, provides 45 percent of employment, and contributes 52 percent to the nation’s GDP.

Digital Transformation has become the talk of the town after the coronavirus pandemic and most private and public sector companies have had to adapt overnight to the new norm.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), non-communicable diseases (NCDs) accounted for 83 percent of all deaths in Sri Lanka in 2016. Even more concerningly, the WHO states that those with pre-existing NCDs, such as cardiovascular diseases,

The media reported some days ago of a proposal by the prime minister, to bring legislation to stop cattle slaughter and apparently majority of the government MPs are supportive of his proposal. Many Buddhist monks have also risen vehemently supporti

The future of MCC remains bleak. Last year, the government appointed an experts panel to review the content of the agreement and the panel report was presented to the members of the Cabinet for their recommendations before the last parliamentary elec

Developing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has always been a priority for the government and there is a renewed push to catalyse SMEs to aid post-COVID-19 recovery. From directed credit to technical assistance programmes, successive governments a

The COVID-19 pandemic emerged as a public health crisis and morphed into a global economic crisis, with severe impacts on commercial activity, employment and trade. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) describes COVID-19 as the “worst global

COVID-19 has made an adverse impact to our economy, where many businesses fall into the micro small and medium enterprises (MSME) category and some in the small and medium enterprise (SME) category. A majority of Sri Lanka’s businesses fall into bo

This is part of an interview series titled ‘Mirror Business S&P SL2 - Insights’ conducted in collaboration with the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE). The interview features Hatton National Bank PLC Managing Director/CEO Jonathan Alles. Following are

The non-banking financial institutions (NBFI) sector has evolved over the past years to be a stronger force in the finance industry in Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, the public only remembers NBFIs in light of unethical practices of non-regulated finance

Asia’s emerging economies are at different stages in combatting the Covid-19 pandemic. For some, the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter as social distancing measures are being eased and economic activity is starting to ramp up again

In the midst of a global pandemic, IFC steps up its work in Sri Lanka—aiming to help mitigate some of the worst economic impacts and deliver tangible long-term benefits.

End of the COVID-19 pandemic? When? The responses map itself somewhere within a range from at least one year to 10 years plus. Wide agreement: it is something here to stay. There is no way out. Better get used to the ‘new normalcy’.

With more than 270,000 new cases daily and around 6,000 deaths daily, globally, most world leaders are pursuing a highly uncertain best-case scenario — the discovery of vaccines or a drug — while pushing for the pandemic-controlling options that

Now that the parliamentary elections are concluded, the focus of the new government should shift to the serious business of fixing the economy. COVID-19 has hit Sri Lanka’s economic outlook harder than expected.

We are on the threshold of yet another parliamentary election. Whoever forms the next government will have a daunting task to revive our economy, badly battered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Businesses and individuals continue to struggle due to the impacts brought about by the global health crisis and it was the banking sector that all industries turned to, for help.

This is part of the interview series titled ‘Mirror Business S&P SL2 - Insights’ conducted in collaboration with the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE). The interview features Sampath Bank PLC Managing Director/CEO Nanda Fernando. Following are excerpt

There is no doubt that we are faced globally with a terrible pandemic but it seems that we, humans, have yet to gain the level of wisdom necessary to see through to the consequences of our current way of life, organisations and relationships and also