The latest bi-annual Export Barometer Survey indicates that exporters are increasingly concerned about the implications of the expected contraction of the Sri Lankan economy in the latter half of 2022 on export orders, with SMEs particularly vulnerable to the intensifying economic crisis. The third in a series of surveys conducted by the Ceylon Chamber of…
India became the top bilateral lender to SL in 2022 after much needed crisis recovery assistance it provided. The Asian Development Bank is the largest multilateral lender next to India. From 2017 till 2021 China was the largest bilateral lender (Ref. financial sources). Many in the west and some in SL are still worried about the…
UN resident coordinator in SL recently appealed to SL’s friends to donate food, medicine etc. to help SL face the crisis (Ref. Media). There is much discussion on paddy prices and sufficient rice stocks in the coming months. There were also concerns about chemicals mixed with the imported rice. However relevant officials denied those allegations….
Issuing a communiqué, on releasing National Accounts Estimates, the Sri Lanka’s GDP contracts 8.4% in Q2 2022 (DCS) states that the year on year GDP growth rate for the second quarter of 2022 has been estimated as 8.4 percent of negative growth rate, against the value reported in the same quarter in the year 2021. Further,…
Bloomberg – Sri Lanka’s economy likely shrank the most in two years amid a debt crisis that triggered a default and widespread protests that brought the nation to a standstill leading to the ouster of the president. Gross domestic product probably fell 10% in the three months to June from a year ago, according to…
President Ranil W is expected to consult the parliament on electoral reforms and will consult the people direct at a referendum if the parliament doesn’t respond (Ref. Media). An analysis of the Sri Lankan society (since 1931) may indicate that the process of electing officials has been a root cause of all conflicts which fragmented…
By Prof. Samitha Hettige SL’s super power neighbor India recently commissioned its first aircraft carrier Vikrant at a cost of 3 billion USD in Kerala. At the commissioning Indian Prime Minister has indicated that Indo Pacific region is a defense priority for India (Ref. Indian sources). Although analysts question the need for such carriers in…
Fitch Ratings-Hong Kong-02 September 2022: The IMF staff-level agreement with Sri Lanka on a USD2.9 billion programme, confirmed on 1 September, appears to signal a sharp change in policy settings in order to achieve macroeconomic stability, including through large fiscal adjustment, greater exchange-rate flexibility and more central bank autonomy, says Fitch Ratings. This should facilitate…
Business Sentiment Despite the protracted period of suffering in recent months, Sri Lankans are gradually reclaiming a sense of their previous existence as the interminable wait in long queues has dwindled to minutes rather than hours and days, and basic necessities are in higher supply. Thank goodness for that island mentality and short memories. Soon,…
Blunt policy tools, a far cry from the ‘social market economy’’ proposed by the President and reformers in the opposition. Extraordinary Gazette No 2294/30 of 23rd August 2022, issued under the Import and Export Control Act No 1 of 1969 by the Ministry of Finance temporarily suspends the importation of over 300 items. This move…
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