By Kimuthu Kiringoda “Tourism has been described as the world’s largest transfer of resources from rich to poor, dwarfing international aid.” – Salli Felton, CEO, Travel Foundation The tourism industry’s performance was hampered first by the Easter Sunday bomb explosions in 2019 and then the COVID-19 pandemic. Sri Lanka saw a decline in tourist arrivals from…
By Felix Fernando Much has been said of the potential economic costs to Sri Lanka, of losing the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) Plus trade concessions to the European Union (EU). While these costs will be high, the social and human costs are likely to be even greater. Considering official statistics for 2021, available up…
Asia’s top high-yield bond issuer expected to restructure debt and seek help from IMF Financial Times – Investors are braced for Sri Lanka to default during the Covid-19 pandemic, saying they expect Asia’s top high-yield bond issuer to restructure its debt and call on the IMF for assistance as its financial crisis worsens. The South…
By Thisuri Ekanayake A great deal of discussion is underway on what appears to be the latest wave of migration from Sri Lanka. These conversations focus on the desire of young people to migrate in search of greener pastures in the face of the soaring cost of living and uncertainty about the country’s future. While…
Perceived Economic Opportunity Index 2021 [PEOI] Q4: October to December, 2021 The Foundation of Economic Freedom in Sri Lanka (FEFSL) presents here a summary of perceptions of the people of Sri Lanka about their own and the nations’ future as at the last quarter of 2021. This monthly nation-wide tracking study, reported quarterly, is based…
The Silk Road Journal by Mahika Ming The Chinese people all over the world are celebrating the 2022 Spring Festival or the Chinese New Year. Chinese President Xi Jinping also extended festival greetings to all Chinese people encouraging them to build China into a great modern socialist country in all respects. The Chinese are ending the…
Business Sentiment – Confidence at A Nine Month High In a telltale sign of policy vacillation, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka hiked its policy rates by 50 basis points (to 6.5%) on 20 January to contain the nation’s balance of payments crisis and runaway inflation (14%). “The Monetary Board was of the view that…
In the latest release of 2021 Q4 data of LankaPropertyWeb’s House Price Index (HPI), which is based on the asking prices of its listings, the overall selling prices of houses had increased by 22.53% and apartments by 17.68% in Q4 2021 when compared to Q4 of 2020, indicating an all-time high price based on the…
AFP – Supermarket shelves are bare and restaurants can’t serve meals, but Sri Lanka’s economic crisis is a bonanza for used car dealers, with vehicle shortages pushing prices higher than a house in a nice area. The island nation of 22 million is on the brink of bankruptcy, inflation is red hot and the government…
The Silk Road Journal by Mahika Ming As per government sources international flights from Colombo International Airport, Ratmalana will start from 29th of January 2022. Flights from South India, Male and Bangladesh via India will be operated to and from Ratmalana Airport. Some sources were reporting that this was the first time international flights are…
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