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 […]

… USD 5 mn paid to Iran a month By Shamindra Ferdinando Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera has confirmed that consumers of petrol and diesel have been made to pay Rs. 50 to Rs. 55 per litre since the middle of last year to settle what the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) owed its creditors. […]

By Sanjeewa Jayaweera The headline on page one of the Sunday Island of 07 January 2024 read, “CBSL Governor urges public to become informants to boost tax revenue.” The article was based on an interview with Governor Nandala Weerasinghe (NW) hosted by the President’s Media Centre. NW is quoted to have said, “If the public […]

By Saman Indrajith Forty-eight-year-old Batticaloa District MP Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, popularly known as Pillayan, has been shaping the Eastern Province’s political narrative since he was a teenager. He was just 16-years old when he joined the LTTE in 1990 as a child soldier. Since then, he continued to rise in the ranks of the LTTE until […]

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Cuba s cash-strapped government announced Monday that fuel prices will soar by more than 500 percent beginning February 1, part of a series of economic measures aimed at reducing the deficit.

ECONOMYNEXT –Central Bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe urged the public to become informants to broaden the tax net and thus reduce both overall direct and indirect taxes. The government has raised Value Added Tax (VAT), an indirect tax to 18 percent from 15 percent with effect from January 1. The move also will see some VAT […]

Explosives hidden in ‘fly-away-kit’ in cargo hold by Menaka Akshi Fernando “Every May 3, for the past 34 years, like a bunch of anxious surfers, we catch the rising wave of grief, glide on the intensifying emotions for a while and fall back to our senses as the wave of reality breaks. Although words can […]

President Ranil Wickremesinghe emphasized that the nation cannot revert to a period marked by scarcity of fuel, lack of fertilizers, and economic collapse.

A proposal to select a prospective investor for the first phase of the development of 61 fuel storage tanks in the Upper Tank area of the China Bay Harbour of Trincomalee was approved at the Cabinet meeting held on Monday (01 Jan.).

A new year has dawned, and a nightmare is unfolding for the public. It is a case of the people’s worst fears being realised. The implementation of the enhanced VAT (Value Added Tax) regime has had the same effect as a dam burst, in a manner of speaking. People are struggling to keep their heads […]

By Shamindra Ferdinando Even after imposing 18 percent Value Added Tax (VAT) on fuel with effect from January 1, the government continued to charge Rs 50 on a litre of both petrol and diesel purportedly to recover losses incurred by the highly corrupt state owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC

The Chairman of the National Transport Commission (NTC) Shashi Welgama says that despite the rise in fuel prices, there will be no corresponding increase in bus fares.

The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (Ceypetco) announced that fuel prices will be revised with effect from 5.00 a.m. today (January 01).

Sri Lanka’s inflation rose to 4.0 percent in December, the third consecutive monthly rise as the cash-strapped nation was set to increase taxes from the New Year.The benchmark Colombo Consumer Price Index jumped by 1.7 points to reach 195.1, or a 4.0 percent increase compared to a year ago when inflation was 57.2 percent. The […]