by Dr Amali Wedagedara In Sri Lanka, public policy lost in the neoliberal haze treats the market as a cure for all ills. Not only is the market omnipresent, but it is also omniscient and omnipotent. The charm of the ‘market’ that research and advocacy lobbyists are creating is so alluring that only a few […]

[An article based on the Keynote Address delivered by Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe, Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, recently at the Annual Research Symposium 2023 of the University of Colombo] Introduction Inflation affects every aspect of our lives; it is a force that shapes our purchasing power, influences our financial decisions, and […]

Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe, Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, attended, by invitation, the Economic Dialogue Series held in Berlin under the theme “Inflation Kills Democracy: Fiscal Rationality as the basis of Functioning Communities” on 21 November 2023. This event was organised by the Federal Ministry of Finance, Germany. Governor Weerasinghe presented Sri […]

* Lankan universities have been running with no more than 60 percent of the cadre of teachers approved for them and now perhaps less. * Upper secondary schools are run with no teachers for mathematics, physics and information technology. * University teachers are emigrating in droves, driven away into uncertain lives in other countries. *In […]

By Uditha Devapriya One of Sri Lanka’s most distinguished yet underrated economists, S. B. D. de Silva died five years ago, on June 15. His magnum opus, The Political Economy of Underdevelopment, remains as underrated and under-read – one could say unread – as he. First published by Routledge in 1982, The Political Economy of […]

This year’s Nobel economics prize has been awarded to Claudia Goldin, an American economic historian, for her work on women’s employment and pay. Prof Goldin’s research uncovered key drivers behind the gender pay gap, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

Oil prices have jumped on concerns that the situation in Israel and Gaza could disrupt output from the Middle East. Brent crude, the international benchmark, climbed by $2.25 a barrel to $86.83, while US prices also rose. Israel and Palestinian territories are not oil producers but the Middle Eastern region accounts for almost a third […]

China’s factories picked up their pace and retail sales also gained momentum in August, according to government data, suggesting the economy may be gradually recovering from its post-pandemic malaise. However, despite busy activity in restaurants and stores, the figures released on Friday showed continuing weakness in the all-important property sector, where real estate developers are […]

By Dr Laksiri Fernando President of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe is undoubtedly a capable person compared to many other former Presidents in the country. Chandrika Kumaratunga could have been better, but the circumstances of the war prevented her achieving many of the socio-economic targets. In terms of modernizing the country, J. R. Jayewardene played a […]

By HIMAL KOTELAWALA ECONOMYNEXT – If Sri Lanka allows elections to distract from the path of recovery, stabilization and growth, the country will be hit by a fresh crisis far worse than any before, former central bank governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy said. Speaking at a forum organized by Cal, a Colombo-based investment banking group, Coomaraswamy said […]

by Laura He China has long been the engine of global growth. But in recent weeks, its economic slowdown has alarmed international leaders and investors who are no longer counting on it to be a bulwark against weakness elsewhere. In fact, for the first time in decades, the world’s second economy is itself the problem. Hong Kong’s Hang […]