Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières
Since the end of the war, Sri Lanka’s economy is being transformed through a rapid process of financialisation. Such widespread financialisation facilitated infrastructure development, a real estate boom linked to urbanisation and expansion of credit leading to increasing indebtedness of the (...)
A lower unemployment rate is important to maintain prestige and popularity of the Government as it reflects its ability to maintain living standards in the face of an external crisis. It reduces the onus of the Government to provide employment or social security support – Pic by Shehan (...)
By 19 November 2020, a total of 19,280 of our citizens had contracted the coronavirus, 74 unfortunates succumbed to the disease and 13,271 of those stricken with the sickness had recovered.
During the first wave of the pandemic, the country was locked down for three months. At that time the (...)
The lock down imposed to arrest the spread of the second wave of the coronavirus in parts of the country stretched into a third week, stirring restlessness and mental strain among people.
Residents of Mattakuliya, Dematagoda, Peliyagoda and Katunayake complain that restrictions have shut down (...)
My economist friends might get goose bumps on reading the title of this piece not because the idea is controversial but because it goes beyond the limits of the arguments within the normal science in the Kuhnian sense of the word. Well, there’s no need to be alarmed.
The economic scientists (...)
Thirteen trade unions and civil society groups working on behalf of FTZ and manpower workers are calling on the Government – Ministry of Health, Ministry of Labour, the Presidential Task Force to combat COVID-19, the Board of Investment (BOI) and the Ministry Level (Tripartite) Task Force to (...)
The Government is seriously considering a proposal to provide financial unemployment benefits to scores of Sri Lankans who have lost their jobs owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and those who are at risk of losing their jobs.
If approved, the proposal will be implemented in the forthcoming 2021 (...)
By November, Budget 2021 will be presented to Parliament. 2020 was a no Budget year and funds were allocated using exceptional clauses in the Constitution. A huge supplementary account was passed soon after Parliamentary Elections on 5 August. Besides the Election manifesto, rata hadana (...)
Women affected by microloans in Sri Lanka have been mobilising for debt cancellation since a couple of years. The complexity of the agricultural debt problem and the attractiveness of the idea of debt abolition made it a popular campaign slogan during the last Presidential election in November (...)
One would think Sri Lankans would learn. The Central Bank (CB) from 2010 to 2013 drew much flak as the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) incurred losses by purchasing stocks in companies with artificially inflated share prices. It won’t be long before CB and other state entities are confronted with (...)
A debt burden will only scuttle economic recovery as it will put enormous pressure on small farmers, fishers, tea plantation workers and small and medium entrepreneurs who have to lead the economy towards recovery.
The onset of islandwide curfew since mid-March delivered a blow to the economy (...)
If Sri Lanka’s policy makers are slowly beginning to think about the possibility of local production, we must be wary of top-down efforts that only focus on managing state finances and increasing GDP growth, rather than empowering working people across diverse ethnic, religious, caste, and (...)
Sri Lanka’s working people are worried their pay and jobs will be easy targets as the economy is hit. Many are still waiting for their March salary. Plantation owners will cut hours to avoid paying bonuses.
Sri Lanka has been under curfew for over a fortnight. The near-total lockdown and the (...)
The Alliance for Economic Democracy (AED) is a concerned group of trade unionists, farmers, fishers, students, academics and activists who uphold the value of economic rights and justice in public policymaking. We wish to draw your attention to several key issues regarding the proposed (...)
More than a million families are in deep debt, having borrowed at loan shark rates from micro finance companies. Many people have committed suicide.
In one instance, a Batticaloa family headed by a woman, who had borrowed heavily from multiple lenders, was guided by local government officials (...)
As women were deemed to be thrifty, able to manage with meagre resources and responsible borrowers, they became the targets for such predatory lending.
We are witnessing large protests across the war-torn regions in the north and east, urging the Government to restrict the activities of (...)
After an enquiry among microcredit victims and militants acting in their defence, we present here some emblematic cases. We point out that we have been unable to meet any advocates of microcredits. Contrary to the usual claim (affirmation) that a small loan will permit the development of (...)
The Government recently released its ‘Vision 2025’ manifesto, aiming to revive the momentum of pro-market reforms. Its timing coincided with the 40th anniversary of Sri Lanka’s embrace of deregulation, trade liberalisation and privatisation, well ahead of the rest of South Asia.
This shift from (...)
Each January politicians and corporate executives from across the world gather at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos – with a Hollywood celebrity or glamorous royal in tow to excite the assembled media.
In Sri Lanka there was greater than usual interest in this (...)
A new economic policy package is fast consolidating as reflected by the Prime Minister’s Economic Policy Statement on November 5 and the 2016 Budget Speech on November 20. This vision is stimulating economic growth through increased construction supported by greater inflows of global finance (...)
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