2022: A Year Like No Other
2022 was one of the most momentous years in Sri Lanka’s recent history. An unprecedented people’s movement drove out an elected president and prime minister and forced the resignation of the entire…
Economy
Microfinance: Addressing a Social Disaster
Microfinance is an essential aspect of the economy where low income people often lack access to structured, formal financial services. Improved access to financial services among the low income population assists in…
Vital Northern Mangroves Need Uncompromising Protection
Tashiya de Mel On the northern coast of Sri Lanka in the Mannar District is a place of extraordinary importance to conservation and to the economic wellbeing of the human populations who…
The Hidden Costs of Sri Lanka’s Economic Crisis
Suffering through its worst economic crisis since independence, Sri Lanka’s population has been facing hyperinflation for months, forcing many families to reduce their food and nutrition intake in order to cope. Many…
Delivering Economic Recovery with Humane and Equitable Development
Sri Lanka plunged into a dystopian economic reality in 2022. Even in the present global downturn few countries match it in the stunning speed and severity of its collapse. The economy has…
City Resilience Through Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture
Diminishing crop yields, high inflation, along with disruptions to global supply chains, and bans on imported items have left Sri Lanka grappling with serious and worrying levels of food insecurity. For those…
The Long Journey To an United and Democratic Sri Lanka
As the world marks another Human Rights Day, Sri Lanka is sinking deeper and deeper into an authoritarian regime where human rights are routinely flouted and international criticism is regularly ignored. The…
In a Bankrupt Sri Lanka, Corruption is the Root of All Evil
When I joined the public service 50 years ago, we spoke of governance. When I left the service, the talk was of good governance. That was what Sri Lanka achieved during the…
Abandoned to Their Fate, Northern Villagers Battle to Survive
They are a small, tight knit community held together by their shared suffering and insurmountable difficulties. Ever since the start of the 1983 civil war, their lives have been marked by tragedy…
Mahindagamanaya 3
“We have not abandoned our people, neither will we do so.” Mahinda Rajapaksa (Budget 2023, second reading debate) The seminal event of the 2023 Budget cycle was not Budget 2023. The Budget…
2023 Budget: False Promises at the Expense of Women and Working People
The government’s budget presented on November 14 is incredibly callous. It fails to acknowledge the suffering Sri Lankans are enduring due to the economic crisis. The budget speech refers to rapid economic…
Stability or Protest, That is the Question
One striking issue is currently polarising society. Should the country forget about demanding system change and accept the status quo for now to get the economy back on track? The argument is…
Politics of Capitalist Transition and State Repression
Capitalist transition within a state is a process that involves changing institutions or the rules of the game so that markets become the primary mechanism for resource allocation. These changes must be…
Red Lights Are Flashing as over 9.5 Million People Descend into Poverty
Sri Lanka is experiencing its worst economic crisis since independence with a rapidly declining economic growth rate coupled with widening deficits in the balance of payments, government budget and investment and savings.…
Creating a New Poor: the Fertiliser Ban that Marked the Beginning of the End
Although Sri Lanka takes pride in being an agricultural economy, the agricultural sector only contributes to 7.4% of the national Gross Domestic Production (GDP) out of which only 5.2% comes from farming. Despite…
