While some may think Sri Lanka’s cricket team did well in the recent Champion’s Trophy, myself included, vigorous debates have been going on, on TV and social media and even here in our office, which clearly suggest that not everyone agre

Even if Sri Lanka is well ahead of other regional counterparts, in terms of literacy rate, people in the country don’t have much financial literacy, 

We preach that Sri Lanka is a Democratic Socialist Republic and practice social-market economy. One of the measures to see the role of government in the social sector is to look at the total tax collection from the rich and the subsidies afforded to

In memory of Dr. Saman Kelegama, this is a republication of the article initially published in Mirror Business in December 2011, under the ‘Sri Lanka’s Prominent Economists’ series.

Asia just doesn’t seem to have enough money to pay its infrastructure bills. And as demand for infrastructure development soars, governments are looking to the private sector for funding, but are having a tough time finding takers.

Human civilization is rapidly approaching an unprecedented threshold beyond which lies an exciting yet highly uncertain and volatile age. Many of the assumptions that have formed the basis of complex industrial societies are themselves falling under

Ceylon Tea has come a long way since the first tea field was planted in Sri Lanka in 1867. This week’s TIPS column looks at the export performance of this mature export product during 2016, during the first four months of 2017 and the outlook f

According to the government’s economic policy statement issued in October 2016, Sri Lanka envisions achieving sustainable development by linking the country to global supply chains and increasing trade.

Foreign Minister Ravi Karunanayake speaking at the FT forum – ‘Grow with Giants’ – said Sri Lanka’s exports have dwindled due a lack of competitiveness over the years, from US $ 17 billion to US $ 11 billion and that the

The news on inequality is both good and bad. While the global income disparity has narrowed significantly over recent decades thanks to robust economic growth in many low- and middle-income economies, gaps within countries have widened significantly

Despite its natural and human resources, Sri Lanka has been unable to move forward without borrowing from foreign institutes and countries, which have their own terms and conditions, further impoverishing the beneficiary countries. Every government t

For global financial markets, the US interest rate outlook is the elephant in the room. Sharply higher rates could destabilize markets, particularly in emerging Asia where rising debt levels are shaping as a threat to growth.

Before this analysis is presented in this paper, it may be worthwhile to establish some clear definitions as follows: 

Speculation plays a key role in stock markets. The stock market and all its fluctuations are entirely based on millions of transactions that occur between buyers and sellers each day. Each of these buyers and sellers has different reasons for their a

Your key result areas as a leader are those things that you absolutely, positively must do to fulfil your responsibilities and achieve your business goals. There are seldom more than five to seven key result areas in any job or in any business. Your

As a busy mother, wife and an entrepreneur rolled into one, I often have to work out schedules, improvise routines and review short cuts. This is with particular reference to everyday things like cooking, making plans for meals, chores and household

After three years of uncertainty surrounding China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the highly anticipated Belt and Road Forum (BRF) was finally held in May 2017 in Beijing. But India, Beijing’s most populous neighbour, was con

Reaching high income through sustained rapid growth is the natural next step for Asia.

MP Athuraliye Rathana Thera, a key architect of the January 8 revolution, said his dreams to get good and valuable things done from the present government were shattered and he is now left with only one dream and that is to prevent the government fro

“I have not thought of buying an insurance policy until I listened to one of the agents who built the trust in me and impressed me with a clear explanation on the benefits it offers for different events such as illnesses, financial safeguard fo

Calculating how much capital banks should have is often a bone of contention between regulators and banks. While there has been considerable progress on reaching consensus on an international standard, one key issue remains unresolved. This is a prop

A surprisingly weak run of US inflation data has investors backing off bets the Federal Reserve will meet its three targeted interest rate hikes this year and has breathed fresh life into the bond market after a rough start to the year.

While there are so many waiting to find fault with the present government, we should also be thankful to our president for taking a very bold and timely decision to stop the importation of vehicles for all government institutions this year, consideri

Following is a presentation made by Rohan Samarajiva to the People’s Commission for National Policy on International Trade recently. 

In business, more than anywhere else, leaders are faced with moral and ethical decisions daily. Not only are leaders faced with questions between right and wrong but also between right and right. 

Providing enough employment opportunities in India with a population of 1.34 billion is not easy. And the fact that half of the population is below the age of 25 and will soon enter the job market will only make matters worse.

On the occasion of the forthcoming celebrations connected with 150 years of the tea industry in Sri Lanka and the 125th death anniversary of James Taylor, I would like to focus attention to a very important aspect.

With Sri Lanka facing the worst-ever floods in 27 years, the Sri Lankan economy has begun to feel the pinch of climate change. The government immediately appealed for foreign assistance to recover from the floods that caused an estimated Rs.300 billi

Since recently, Sri Lanka has been affected by disasters, most of which are man-made, claiming hundreds of human lives and damaging infrastructure as well.

This year’s World Environment Day – 5th June – is celebrated under the theme ‘Connecting People to Nature’.