Essential medicines in Sri Lanka: where the chain breaks today

Essential medicines in Sri Lanka: where the chain breaks today

Sri Lanka still runs a fragile medicine supply chain. Imports account for most items, so any policy, forex, or logistics shock turns into stock-outs at the ward. The crisis of 2022 exposed systemic weaknesses. Many remain. The following map shows the binding constraints today and the quickest levers to relieve them. 1) Planning and demand […]

Reimagining Sri Lanka’s Tourism Strategy: A Path to Sustainable Growth

Reimagining Sri Lanka’s Tourism Strategy: A Path to Sustainable Growth

Sri Lanka’s Tourism Strategy | Sri Lanka, the pearl of the Indian Ocean, has long captivated travelers with its lush landscapes, rich culture, and warm hospitality. Yet, the tourism sector, once a pillar of the economy has faced significant setbacks in recent years due to political instability, economic crises, and global disruptions like the COVID-19 […]

Corruption: Patterns, Signals, and Systemic Dynamics

Sri Lanka's Improved Ranking in the 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index: A Step Forward in Global Standing

Corruption rarely distributes evenly across a public sector. It clusters where discretion, value, and opacity intersect. That triad explains why certain interfaces carry outsized risk compared with routine services. It also explains why public perception often diverges from the locations of greatest fiscal harm. Citizens notice corruption where they stand in queues or meet officers. […]

What is the Impact of UN Environmental Sessions on Sri Lanka?

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

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. […]

CEB Restructuring: A Turning Point for Sri Lanka’s Power Sector

Electricity Tariff Revision Proposal for Q1 2026: Potential Effects on Household Finances and Energy Use in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has embarked on a significant reform journey to restructure the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB). The intention is clear: to transform electricity generation, transmission, and distribution into a system that is efficient, financially sustainable, and capable of supporting the country’s renewable energy ambitions. What is Being Proposed Unbundling of functionsThe CEB will be divided […]

AI in Sri Lanka’s Financial Sector: What the Central Bank’s Signal Means

AI in Sri Lanka’s Financial Sector: What the Central Bank’s Signal Means

On 17 September 2025, Central Bank Governor Dr P. Nandalal Weerasinghe argued that artificial intelligence is no longer optional for Sri Lanka’s financial sector. He called AI a “strategic imperative” for banks and finance companies, highlighting gains in efficiency, fraud prevention, inclusion, and sustainable finance while warning about privacy, bias, and governance risks that demand […]

Sri Lanka’s SOEs: Restructure or Risk Recovery

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 […]