Examines the environmental racism at the foundation of the Silicon Valley economyNext to the nuclear industry, the largest producer of contaminants in the ai...

Examines the environmental racism at the foundation of the Silicon Valley economyNext to the nuclear industry, the largest producer of contaminants in the ai...

Examines the environmental racism at the foundation of the Silicon Valley economyNext to the nuclear industry, the largest producer of contaminants in the ai...

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s state finances are improving with people’s incomes recovering to almost pre-crisis levels, but the new International Monetary Fund

Examines the environmental racism at the foundation of the Silicon Valley economyNext to the nuclear industry, the largest producer of contaminants in the ai...

Twenty corporate entities in Sri Lanka have signed a pledge, committing to adopt commercial mediation as a primary dispute resolution mechanism, as the country faces a backlog of 1.2 million cases pending in courts.

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka stocks closed 1.4 percent stronger on Thursday, brokers said. “Media reports on current taxes remaining gave a bit of confidence to the market,” Ranjan Ranatunga, Assistant Vice President – Research at First Capital told EconomyNext. The ASPI closed up 1.42 percent, or 232.92 points, at 16,578.22; while the more liquid S&P SL20 Index closed up 1.11 percent, or 52.14 points, at 4,944.60.

Sri Lanka's application to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement is awaiting the development of a mechanism to admit new members, Senior Economic Advisor to President Ranil Wickremesinghe said.

Sri Lanka's central bank has kept its policy rate unchanged, and said it was watching global trade amid knee jerk Mercantilist actions by President Donald Trump to reduce the US trade deficit with mul...

Sri Lanka is on track to make higher payouts on macro-linked bonds as dollar gross domestic product grows, but debt sustainability is maintained amid a strong economy, an International Monetary Fund r...

Sri Lanka and India is working on a bilateral investment treaty, a media report quoted High Commission Santosh Jha as saying.

ECONOMYNEXT – US President Donald Trump has imposed import duties which he called reciprocal tariffs on countries which he claimed are charging taxes and also imposing non-tariff barriers including licenses and standards on American goods. Sri Lanka has been hit by additional 44 percent in import duties under the order published by the Whitehouse. The full order is reproduced here.

ECONOMYNEXT – The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) will hold it sixth summit on April 4 in Bangkok, Thailand, the organization said. The 6th summit of the heads of state/governments of member states will be preceded by a senior officials meeting on April 2 and a foreign or external affairs ministers on April 3.

ECONOMYNEXT – In a symbolic and diplomatically significant visit, Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake reinforced Colombo’s commitment to strengthening regional cooperation during his trip to the Maldives, underscoring a vision of partnership built on shared history, geography, and purpose. His visit comes at a time when Sri Lanka is recovering from an economic crisis while economic experts expect a similar situation in the Maldives “very soon”.

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka customs had collected 2,551 billion rupees in revenues in 2025, higher than a revised target of 2,241 billion rupees for the year, but December collections were less than estimated, official data show. The Customs collected 276.7 billion rupees revenue in December, 16.4 percent less than its estimate of 331 billion for that month, the data showed.

ECONOMYNEXT — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a 100 million dollar financing package to boost Sri Lanka’s macroeconomic stability by strengthening public expenditure management, improving revenue mobilization, and fostering private sector participation. The program will include developing a legal framework for public–private partnerships (PPP) in line with international best practices, and mobilizing additional climate finance and private investment. …

ECONOMYNEXT – A US Federal Appeals court has re-instated Trump tariffs, which were earlier halted by Court of International Trade, media reports said. US President Donald Trump slammed the taxes through an executive order, in the style of a midnight gazette in Sri Lanka, citing a national emergency law, without going through the Congress to enact a law. The appeals court said the Trump tariffs could stay in place until the court considered the motions filed by the administration.

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange earnings made up of exports, gross services including tourism and worker remittances totaled 2,331 million dollars in January 2025, exceeding imports by 546 million US dollars, central bank data shows. In December 2024, gross foreign exchange earnings were 2,413 million dollars with exports of 1,101 million dollars and remittances of 613 million US dollars.

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka has prepared a national renewable hydrogen policy, to make the Indian Ocean island a regional hub, and also launched a just energy transformation (JET) study, with support from the United Nations Development Agency (UNDP). “With its vast renewable energy resources, Sri Lanka is well placed to leverage hydrogen technologies for decarbonising power generation, industry and transport, while enhancing energy security and attracting international investment,” the UNDP said in a statement.

ECONOMYNEXT – C Amarasekara and K G P Sirikumara have been appointed Deputy Governors of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, with effect from October 24 and November 3, respectively. Brief profiles of the new deputy governors, as provided by the CBSL, follows: Dr. C Amarasekara Dr. Amarasekara has served the Central Bank of Sri Lanka for more than 22 years.

ECONOMYNEXT – Fitch Ratings has reaffirmed the National Long-Term Rating of Sri Lanka’s Fintrex Finance at ‘BB(lka)’ with a stable outlook. The rating agency also maintained the ‘B+(lka)’ rating on the company’s subordinated debentures. Fintrex’s rating reflects its “expansion into riskier mobile financing, higher leverage and more volatile earnings” Fitch said. “These weaknesses are balanced by acceptable asset quality and improved funding diversity.”

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s Department of Export Agriculture (DEA), and Australia’s Market Development Facility (MDF) have announced an agreement to develop a ‘roadmap’ to further develop the island’s emerging specialty coffee sector. The roadmap will outline the current status of the market, identify gaps and highlight key action points, MDF said in a statement. “MDF will also work with the DEA to improve the quality of coffee processing, conduct sector-relevant training and share MDF developed training modules with farmers and processors.”