When I first joined a banking institute, couple of decades ago life was very much less complicated. Despite the load of responsibilities, we enjoyed the freedom as my workplace had a human face with connections at its heart.

Traffic is a much talked of subject in Colombo with inescapable congestion causing slower speeds, longer trip times and increased vehicular queuing.

Bilateral trade balances (the difference in the value of exports and imports between two countries) have come under scrutiny recently. Some policymakers are concerned that their large and rising size are the result of uneven measures that distort int

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and business tycoon Dammika Perera gave their perspectives at the packed Fireside, organised by the Daily FT, International Chamber of Commerce Sri Lanka and CIMA, at The Hilton Colombo, recently, saying Sri Lanka

‘Mirror Business S&P SL20 Insights’ is conducted in collaboration with the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) as an investor relations initiative. The column encourages S&P SL20 companies to bring attention to the developments in the industry, company

Sri Lanka is widely recognised for its rapid development progress—as shown by various development indicators—but underperformance on growth. The country’s growth slowed to 3.2 percent in 2018.

The United Kingdom is one of the major trading partners of Sri Lanka, amounting to over 10 percent of the total annual trade. The trade between the two countries has been on the upsurge for the last 18 years. In this context, the GSP Plus scheme und

Sri Lanka’s move in February 2019 to bring back capital punishment for convicted drug offenders has put a spotlight on the growth of narcotics-related crime in the country. The government’s apparent tough stance is in response to concerns that Sr

In recent years, with the continuous improvement of the economic and trade cooperation between China and Sri Lanka, Chinese enterprises have made leaps and bounds in their investment in Sri Lanka and signed contracts to invest in large-scale projects

Youth constitute 16 percent of the world’s population and these numbers are projected to increase to 17 percent by 2030. In addition, young people today are connected to each other like never before and are a core demographic in the using and build

The Institute of Policy Studies’ (IPS) New Thinkers Symposium saw researchers from several think tanks presenting their work on broad topics under the theme of technology and economic transformation. They highlighted the need for dynamic and innova

Of late, there has been much debate and concern voiced about tourists standing at the doorways of trains and even hanging out, while the train is moving. Some pictures of a young couple hanging out of a train, while clutching on to the side rails, we

The government of Sri Lanka has embraced Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) as a key focus of the national trade and development strategy. The rationale of this policy choice has been intenselydebated in the Sri Lankan policy circles. The debate has reach

Ratan Naval Tata, (born 28 December 1937) is an Indian industrialist, investor, philanthropist, and a former chairman of Tata Sons. He was also chairman of Tata Group, from 1991 to 2012, and again, as interim chairman, from October 2016 through Febru

As several districts in Sri Lanka continue to recover from the prolonged drought last year, recurring floods and landslides hamper economic activities in the country. Sri Lanka was ranked as the second most affected country by the impacts of weather-

When Narendra Modi became Prime Minister in May 2014, his Bharatiya Janata Party formed India’s first majority government in almost 30 years. Modi’s tenure ends in May 2019. By then, elections involving more than 900 million people will have chos

Frederick Wallace “Fred” Smith (born August 11, 1944) is the founder, Chairman and CEO of FedEx, originally known as Federal Express. The company is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee.

The note under reference hopefully will help the government to boost exports out of Sri Lanka and formulate policies for potential sectors to collectively go beyond a US $ 25 billion export economy and perhaps retain a surplus after debt redemption i

Sri Lanka is today facing a domestic labour shortage in some key sectors and industries. Demographic issues, social attitudes, expansion of the economy and outward labour emigration are contributing to the shortfall. Generally, the lack of interest i

Following is the third part of the full speech made by Dr. K. Kanag-Isvaran, President’s Counsel, at the 22nd Annual  Oration on Taxation, organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka.

The US government recently endured a month-long partial shutdown due to a partisan dispute over funding to build a wall on the country’s southern border with Mexico. While those on both sides of the issue were digging in their heels, I got to t

Worker remittances constitute an important component in the balance of payments (BoP) accounts in Sri Lanka. In 2017, foreign exchange earnings fr

Following is the first part of the full speech made by Dr. K. Kanag-Isvaran, President’s Counsel, at the 22nd Annual Oration on Taxation organized by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka.

Global foreign exchange reserves—which are used by countries to pay for goods and services and to hedge against exchange rate risks—reached US $ 11.48 trillion in the second quarter of 2018, according to the International Monetary Fund (I

New Delhi’s strategic circles are abuzz with speculation of a defence infrastructure upgrade at India’s Andaman and Nicobar islands in the Bay of Bengal. According to media reports, the government is on the cusp of finalising a 10-year pl

The first ‘Sena attack’, carried out unwittingly and in good faith, began soon after the ‘Yahapalana’ government came into being in 2015 and under the much hyped slogan of Toxin-Free Nation. The second was the banning of glyph

Sri Lanka plunged into a political crisis in October 2018 when President Maithripala Sirisena suddenly and unexpectedly sacked the sitting prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, his former partner in the National Unity Government formed in January 2015

The world stands on the brink of a fourth industrial revolution, where dramatic changes in technological advancements will have profound impacts on the future employment landscape and skill requirements. This means that engaging in lifelong learning&

The ‘10 Year Challenge’, Facebook’s latest social media phenomenon, has taken the Internet by a storm. People are posting a picture from 10 years ago alongside their current profile picture or some other photograph and the transform

China holds approximately 9 percent of Sri Lanka’s total outstanding debt as of 2017 and 14 percent amongst bilateral lenders – equivalent to the same share held by neighbouring India. Despite this, Sri Lanka’s engagement with China