Category: Watch Tower
MSME Recovery in Post-Ditwah Sri Lanka: Turning Geographic Data into Action
Chaya Dissanayake (Research Officer, IPS), Dr Asanka Wijesinghe (Research Fellow, IPS), Dilani Hirimuthugodage (Research Economist, IPS) Integrating MSME geolocation into a national statistical system would improve recovery support coordination and reduce the risk of fund misallocation. This exercise uses a survey of 2,500 MSMEs conducted in January 2025 to demonstrate how a geographical database can […]
Record Remittances to Sri Lanka: Hidden Realities Behind the Headlines
Dr Bilesha Weeraratne, Research Fellow and Head of Migration and Urbanisation Policy Research, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS) Worker remittances to Sri Lanka have set a new all-time high record with USD 8.076 billion in 2025. This 22.8% growth, compared to the USD 6.6 billion received in 2024, is shaped by the […]
Opinion: Sri Lanka’s FDI dilemma as profit repatriations surge
By Indika Hettiarachchi indika.h@jupitercapitalpartners.com Recently the head of the Board of Investment (BOI), the apex body in charge of promoting FDI in the country reportedly resigned. It was also reported the outgoing head of BOI saying “Without concessions, Sri Lanka needs hard reforms to attract FDI”. These developments suggest emerging challenges in attracting FDI as […]
OPINION – Northern Investment Summit, Jaffna January 2026
By Jekhan Aruliah When the topic of the Northern economy comes up, Jaffna is often criticized for living on remittances. Small transfers, perhaps a hundred US dollars a month, sent by hard working people overseas to their families in Jaffna and the Northern Province. These gifts are said to be ruining Jaffna youth and the […]
Strengthening Sri Lanka’s SSB Regulations: Addressing the Rise of Non-Sugar Sweeteners
By Priyanka Jayawardena, Research Economist, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS) Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) accounting for nearly 75% of all deaths, have emerged as a major health challenge in Sri Lanka over the past few decades. Unhealthy dietary patterns – including excessive intake of sugar, salt, and fats – continue to play a […]
Small Investors For Polytunnel Agriculture in the Northern Province
By Jekhan Aruliah Nirojan comes from a family of farmers. Born in 1990, his parents farmed two acres of banana and chillies in Killinochchi. Like hundreds of thousands of others during the Sri Lankan Civil War they became IDPs (IDP, Internally Displaced Persons, refugees in their own country). Streams of people fleeing first from their […]
Rebuilding Housing Post-Ditwah: Lessons from Sri Lanka’s Tsunami Experience
By Dr Nisha Arunatilake, Director of Research, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS) The Ditwah Cyclone ranks second only to the December 2004 Tsunami in terms of damage to housing in Sri Lanka’s recent history. According to the government’s Disaster Management Centre, as of 9th December 2025, 86,488 houses were partially or fully […]
Opinion: Will the Response to Ditwah be Worse than the Disaster?
By M. Rizwan Muzzammil The Parable of the Broken Window In 1850, the French economist Frederic Bastiat penned “The Parable of the Broken Window.” A boy breaks a shop window, and a glazier is paid six francs to repair it. Onlookers muse that such accidents are good for trade, as they keep windowmakers in business. […]
Equity (Shares): What It Means to Own a Piece of a Company
Umair Ismail, CFA This article is part of a collaborative series by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC), CFA Society Sri Lanka and the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) and which aims to enhance financial literacy and empower individuals with the knowledge and tools to make informed financial decisions and build long-term financial […]
| How Sri Lanka’s Political Transformation Is Reshaping Stock Market
A Follow-up Analysis: September 2024 – September 2025By Uddeepa Peiris Introduction: When Predictions Meet Reality In September 2024, just weeks before Sri Lanka’s presidential election, I wrote that a government committed to clean governance and development could trigger a dramatic transformation in the country’s stock market. One year later, with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake leading […]
Opinion: Why Smart Regulation, Not Prohibition, Will Protect Sri Lanka’s Youth
By Jithendra Antonio The recent firestorm surrounding e-cigarette use among Sri Lanka’s youth has ignited a critical policy debate in Sri Lanka. So, what’s really at stake here? Protecting our youth is and must always remain a national priority. Yet, regulators and policymakers must resist knee-jerk prohibitionist responses, as any proposed solutions must be evidence-based, […]
Opinion: Not Too Late for a Winning Bet – The Need to Redraft the Gambling Bill
By Sudaraka Ariyaratne After weeks of discussion, the Committee on Public Finance approved the Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) Bill last Wednesday. While the Bill faces its second reading in Parliament this Tuesday, its many deficiencies remain—helping create a regulator not worth its salt. Gaming encompasses both gambling—games of pure chance like casinos and lotteries—and betting, […]