Country at Crossroads

Broader and deeper structural reforms in the last two years gave the economy a boost together with progress in peace talks.Central bank governor A S …

Reverse Gear

The Finance Minister toned down talk of increased spending and a bigger budget deficit, as financial market players expressed concern about the possible …

Growing Pains

Central Bank says the economy will grow at 5.5 percent this year if fiscal discipline is maintained.rnrnGovernor A.S.Jayawardene said that ceasefire and strict …

VAT an Act!

The government is expected to amend the Value Added Tax Act to legalize the introduction single tax rate despite opposition to the amendments on political …

Freedom Day

Police raided a Tamil journalists home in Colombo Monday night, asrnjournalists around the world celebrated World Press Freedom Day.rnrnThe journalist, Sivaram …

Soft Stand

Sri Lankas Tamil Tigers told Norwegian peace brokers Monday they were willing to resume talks based on their plan for self-rule, but warned the new government …

Good Job

Early last year, the government had forecasted a 5.5 percent economic growth. The 5.9 percent year on growth for 2003, is the highest since 2000, when the …

African Roots

rnThe Sri Lankan business community will take lessons from its South African counterparts on how the sector can contribute towards national economic growth …

Regional Curfew

Sri Lankan police clamped indefinite curfews and troops poured into a central tea-growing region Thursday after two people were killed in ethnic violence, …

Taxing Times

With total State revenue falling by around 18 percent last year, the Asian Development Bank asked the government to pay closer attention to closing tax …

First Flush

Sri Lankas new government held its first talks with neighbouring India Thursday ahead of plans to revive stalled peace talks with Tamil Tiger rebelsLakshman …

Missing Dentures

Sri Lanka lacks lquote sufficient organised public outrage to bring about any meaningful changes, say civil advocacy groups, about the abuse of public property …

Refugee Status

The United Nations refugees agency said Thursday Sri Lanka risked losing international financial support if it did not pay more attention to resettling nearly …

Mixed Signals

The Asian Development Bank revised growth targets downwards to 5 percent this year and 5.5 percent in 2005, providing also that politics does not derail …

Comeback Call

The Norwegian government will send a high level team on Saturday to explore possibilities of reviving the stalled peace process.The delegation will include …

Comrade Minister

Officials in Kumaratungas Freedom Alliance said four members of the Marxist JVP, or Peoples Liberation Front took their oaths while another four were sworn in …

Shooting Stars

The economy, politics and human life itself is in for harder times predict astrologers, as a lunar eclipse, two meteor sightings and a meteor shower coincide. …

Clean Slate

The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) says it is ready to work with the Alliance government on a clean slate and support issues in Parliament on a case-by-case basis. …

Back In Business

Norway said that it had conditionally agreed to resume its role as mediator between the government and armed rebels in Sri Lanka, at the request of President …

Tiebreaker

The UNF candidate for Speaker D J M Lokubandara scraped through to the top seat in parliament after a late evening third round vote. The deadlock was broken by …