Sri Lanka’s Debt Path After Restructuring: Why Stock Relief Is Not Enough
Sri Lanka has crossed the hardest miles of debt restructuring. Eurobonds were exchanged in December 2024. Bilateral deals have advanced with Japan, India, and others. According to IMF Mission Chief Evan Papageorgiou, only about US$500 million of the US$28 billion “under the perimeter” remains to be finalised. That is real progress. It is not, by […]
Pine Labs Limited’s Credit+ platform powers a secure and scalable multi-currency prepaid forex instrument for Bank of Ceylon
Sri Lanka, September 29, 2025 – Global fintech platform, Pine Labs Limited today announced its partnership with Bank of Ceylon in Sri Lanka. This banking-fintech partnership will enable the bank to issue and manage prepaid multi-currency travel cards to its customers. Powered by Pine Labs Limited’s Credit+ platform, the card issuance technology for the bank […]
Regulating Microfinance: Sri Lanka’s Next Step in Social and Economic Reform
Sri Lanka’s Cabinet has approved the publication of a Draft Microfinance and Credit Regulation Bill, a move aimed at reshaping how small loans and informal credit are offered to low-income communities. At first glance this is another financial-sector reform. In reality it touches the heart of the country’s rural economy, women’s empowerment, and poverty-reduction strategy. […]
What is the Impact of UN Environmental Sessions on Sri Lanka?
Global Environmental Sessions and Their Reach UN environmental sessions such as the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA), the annual Climate Change Conferences (COP), and the negotiations for the High Seas Biodiversity Treaty are where global environmental standards are set. These forums do not merely produce statements; they create frameworks that shape national policy, financing flows and […]
Rightsizing the Public Sector: World Bank’s Roadmap for Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka’s fiscal crisis has forced a difficult debate: how to balance essential public services with the need to cut spending and stabilise debt. In its Public Finance Review 2025, the World Bank urges the government to “trim” the public sector, not through sudden layoffs, but through a careful process of rightsizing and efficiency reforms. […]
Sri Lanka’s SOEs: Restructure or Risk Recovery
Sri Lanka’s loss-making state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are a persistent drain on public finances and a major obstacle to fiscal stability. Their continued losses add to national debt, crowd out spending on health, education and infrastructure, and slow the country’s economic recovery. Scale of the Losses Government and IMF data show that in 2024 the fifty-two […]
Overhauling Sri Lanka’s Outdated Statistics Law: A Blueprint for Credible Data and Modern Governance
Sri Lanka’s official statistics still rest on the Statistics Ordinance of 1957. That law was written for a world of paper surveys and manual tabulation. In 2025 it no longer supports the country’s need for accurate, timely and trusted data. An overhaul of the national statistics law is overdue. Why the 1957 Law Fails The […]
Nepal’s Political Upheaval and Lessons from Sri Lanka’s 2022 Crisis
Nepal is in turmoil. On 9-10 September 2025, youth-led anti-corruption protests escalated after a sweeping social media ban. At least 19 people were killed, a nationwide curfew was declared, and Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli resigned. Kathmandu airport shut down temporarily, forcing flight diversions, and the government rolled back the ban as it lost […]
Sri Lanka Bolsters Anti-Corruption Arsenal with World Bank Backing
World Bank is backing Sri Lanka’s Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC). Sri Lanka has taken a decisive step forward in combating corruption. Justice Neil Iddawala, Chairman of CIABOC, held high-level talks with World Bank representatives at the UN Secretariat in Vienna. The meeting occurred during the Second Resumed Sixteenth Session of the […]
Sri Lanka’s Public Transport Upgrade: Long Overdue, Still Possible
The Daily Struggle of Sri Lanka’s Public Transport Sri Lanka’s Public Transport | For millions of Sri Lankans, buses and trains are not a choice—they are the only way to get to work, school, or home. Yet anyone who has squeezed into a packed bus or waited endlessly for a delayed train knows how broken […]
