Sri Lanka has long served as an important strategic destination in the Indian Ocean, catering to merchants and travellers from South-east Asia, India, the Middle East and East Africa. Formerly known as Ceylon, the island was visited and admired by the likes of Marco Polo, who called it “the finest island of its size in the world”, well before...
Positioned between west and east Asia, Sri Lanka sits on major maritime route between Europe and the Far East and its natural resources have made it a trading centre for millennia. As the country’s economy has liberalised and grown in recent decades, its trade volumes to developed markets and emerging ones have risen strongly. The country has...
Sri Lanka’s deal with the IMF agreed upon in June 2016 could help the country open a new chapter of wide-ranging economic reform. While noting the country’s economic weaknesses that have been brought into focus in recent years, the fund also looked favourably upon Sri Lanka’s competitive advantages. From them, the country can stands to benefit...
Although Sri Lanka has numerous banks, a large part of the population – particularly outside the major urban areas – has looked to other types of financial intermediaries to meet its needs, or has remained outside of the financial system altogether. In addition, years of conflict denied large numbers of citizens contact with normal banking...
After decades in which Sri Lanka underperformed in its substantial potential as a foreign direct investment (FDI) destination, there is a growing sense that change is afoot that will allow the country to make up for lost time. In January 2016 Malik Samarawickrama, the minister of development strategies and international trade, told the global...
With a population of 1.3bn and an economy growing 7%-plus each year, India is a good neighbour for Sri Lanka to have. Trade volumes between the countries have soared in recent years thanks to a beneficial free trade agreement (FTA). Talks have been ongoing about how to deepen this relationship while taking into account political and economic...
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