Category: Daily Financial Times

The Halal Assessment Council (Guarantee) Ltd., (HAC) has been recognised with a Merit Award at the Sri Lanka National Quality Awards 2023 (SLNQA) – the country’s most prestigious recognition for organisational excellence, conducted by the Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI).

The awards ceremony, held on 11 November 2025, was graced by Science and Technology Minister Prof. Chrishantha Abeysena. The event celebrated public- and private-sector organisations that demonstrate outstanding commitment to quality, innovation, and continuous improvement.

Receiving the award HAC Director and CEO Aakif Wahab said: ‘This recognition is a tribute to the dedication and professionalism of our entire team. It reaffirms HAC’s commitment to upholding internationally recognised certification standards. Through these efforts, Sri Lankan Halal-certified food and beverage manufacturers continue to uphold food-safety, be quality-driven, and remain ready to serve consumers locally and globally.’

HAC said it plays a pivotal role in certifying Halal-compliant Sri Lankan products for both domestic and international markets. Its robust assessment systems and adherence to ISO-based standards have helped Sri Lankan producers access new global markets and enhance consumer confidence in certified goods.

In 2024, Sri Lanka’s exports of Halal-certified products were estimated at $ 1.9 billion, accounting for 63% of all food and beverage exports and 16% of the nation’s total exports. This contribution underscores the growing importance of trusted certification in driving the country’s export economy.

The Sri Lanka National Quality Awards continue to serve as a platform for sharing best practices, fostering innovation, and motivating organisations to achieve excellence for national growth.

CIPM Sri Lanka has announced that Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Governor Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe will grace the Great HR Awards 2025 as Chief Guest, adding exceptional prestige to this premier celebration of people-management excellence.

Dr. Weerasinghe’s presence stands as a powerful endorsement that great HR drives great economies.

With nearly 30 years of leadership at the Central Bank-shaping policy, strengthening institutions, and guiding Sri Lanka through transformative economic periods-his participation underscores the national importance of progressive HR practices in enhancing productivity, resilience, and competitiveness.

Internationally acclaimed as an ‘A’-grade Central Bank Governor for 2024 and 2025 and honoured as ‘Sri Lankan of the Year 2024’ by LMD, Dr. Weerasinghe brings unmatched stature and credibility to this year’s ceremony.

Presented in collaboration with Mercer, the Great HR Awards 2025 will take place on 25 November at Cinnamon Life, drawing CEOs, senior business leaders, and HR visionaries committed to shaping Sri Lanka’s next era of workplace and economic excellence.

Sri Lanka’s current approach to Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and trade liberalisation may reinforce inequality rather than reduce it unless access, mobility, and capability gaps are addressed upfront, UNDP Country Economist Dr. Vagisha Gunasekara has warned.

Responding to a Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA) guest lecture on the World Bank’s South Asia Development Update on Trade, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Labour Markets in South Asia, Dr. Gunasekara said: ‘AI and trade can be very powerful tools for transformation in Sri Lanka, but only if we change who is in that digital queue before we open the gate wide.’

She argued that Sri Lanka’s digital foundations and labour mobility constraints highlight gaps in the country’s readiness for the next phase of economic reforms.

She said the regional report outlines how jobs, AI, and trade shape South Asia’s trajectory, but when applied to Sri Lanka ‘the gains will mostly accrue to those already positioned to access them.’

More than a third of households remain offline and only 37% of adults use the internet. Digital literacy stands at 57%, computer literacy at 34%, and only one in five households owns a desktop or laptop. ‘Most Sri Lankans access the modern economy, if at all, through a very limited device,’ she said.

By 2021, 61% of households were online, largely via mobile data. The urban-rural gap in adult internet use is roughly 20 percentage points. Only 13% of South Asia’s workforce is in export-linked jobs, and Sri Lanka reflects this pattern in apparel, IT, BPM, logistics, and tourism. ‘These are younger, better paid, more skilled jobs, but the pipeline into them is already narrow,’ she said.

Education and digital access during COVID-19 reinforced that divide.

During school closures, 63% of children accessed remote learning, while 15% received none. In households with internet, 90% of children accessed online education; in households without, only about two-thirds did. Children from better-educated households were 20-30 percentage points more likely to receive online learning.

‘These are the workers who will compete for AI-complementary jobs in a decade. The inequality is being pre-wired today,’ she said.

Micro-data from the Vanni shows the same structural pattern. Basic phone skills were nearly universal, but advanced skills correlated with household wealth. Only 17% had ever used the internet to look for work and roughly 70% had never used a Government website. ‘This is a capability gap in even finding and competing for good jobs,’ she said.

Gender and disability sharpen these constraints.

Women are one third less likely to use the internet than men and hold only about a third of ICT jobs. Only 7% of persons with disabilities had ever used the internet compared to 24% of the general population. ‘The potential winners from AI in Sri Lanka are concentrated within a relatively small urban middle class,’ she said.

Dr. Gunasekara said this raises questions about the design and inclusiveness of Sri Lanka’s emerging DPI architecture.

AI requires reliable electricity, broadband, and data systems. Sri Lanka’s electricity coverage is 97%, but internet speeds are low, public Wi-Fi is sparse, and effective tax rates on internet services are 17-20%.

At the same time, the country is advancing digital identity, digital payments, e-Government, e-procurement, digital customs, and digital education and health platforms. ‘These are labour market and trade infrastructure,’ she said.

Sri Lanka’s own digital economy ambitions underline the scale of the challenge. The Government aims to grow the digital economy to $ 15 billion, up from the current level of about 3% of GDP, compared with India’s 12%. The national target is to increase this share to 10% in the medium term and 15% over the next decade. As part of this effort, the DPI framework will be opened to developers through a sandbox to test and build applications.

Payments form the core of the emerging DPI ecosystem, with the objective of creating seamless interoperable payment rails across banks, fintechs, and large technology firms. The next phase is expected to move towards account aggregation for individuals and businesses, enabling open banking, open lending, and open insurance. Data sharing and interoperability, supported by proportional regulation, will drive innovation, the Government believes.

However, Dr. Gunasekara cautioned that unless DPI is designed for low-income and rural users, it risks reinforcing structural inequality. ‘39% percent of households still lack internet. Women face a 34% gap in internet use. Persons with disabilities have 7% use versus 24% for the general population. These foundational rails are missing where inclusive growth is most needed.’

Small and medium enterprise (SME) surveys show similar constraints: only a minority transact online; micro and informal firms rely on social media for marketing, while billing and ordering remain manual. ‘Cash-on-delivery still dominates e-commerce,’ she said. She argued for DPI designed for low-bandwidth use, multilingual interfaces, and mobile-first access, with offline and accessibility features built in.

‘DPI must change who can step into the modern economic grid,’ Dr. Gunasekara asserted.

Turning to trade reforms, she said sequencing is critical. Across South Asia, tariffs on intermediate inputs are more than twice those in emerging economies. High-tariff sectors like agriculture, food, textiles, and electronics trap many workers, while low-tariff services generated three-quarters of job growth between 2013 and 2023.

Sri Lanka faces additional constraints: thin digital trade systems, offline-first SMEs, and foreign exchange pressures. ‘Dismantling tariffs too quickly risks a surge of cheap imports, pressure on the rupee, and stress on industries emerging from crisis,’ she said.

She pointed out that mobility frictions erase most gains from trade reform when workers cannot move into expanding sectors. Sri Lanka’s mobility barriers include limited affordable housing in growth hubs, weak public transport, poor regional transport links, and mismatched skills.

‘Announcing trade reform without fixing these gaps is like lowering tariffs while leaving large parts of your workforce blindfolded at the border,’ Dr. Gunasekara said.

She said Sri Lanka should prioritise non-tariff trade costs first: logistics, port and airport efficiency, customs automation, risk-based inspections, single window systems, mutually recognised standards, and cross-border digital trade systems accessible to SMEs.

The next step is investment in skills, reskilling, mobility enablers, childcare, transport, and safety nets. Only then should tariff reforms proceed, starting with intermediate inputs.

‘A predictable input-focused tariff path is essential so that firms can retool and workers who are digitally invisible can begin to access new opportunities,’ she said.

Delivering the 2026 Budget Speech, President and Finance Minister Anura Kumara Dissanayake said the para-tariff phase out would be gradual: ‘With the aim of boosting economic growth by increasing the competitiveness of external trade, we expect the gradual phase out of para-tariffs through the proposed revisions in Customs Import Duty rates. We propose to prepare and implement a plan according to a time frame for the phase-out of para-tariffs with a minimal impact on Government revenue,’ he said.

‘DPI is economic infrastructure. And sequencing matters. If we front-load trade facilitation and DPI and labour market investments, tariff reform can be ambitious and inclusive. If we skip these steps, the divides will only deepen.’

Sri Lanka will issue a $ 50 million Domestic Dollar Bond (DDB) next week, the country’s first foreign-currency borrowing instrument since the 2022 default and the first Bond issued under the newly operational Public Debt Management Office (PDMO).

The move also comes against the backdrop of an earlier Cabinet proposal in October to raise up to $ 100 million through the DDB window, with the authorities opting to begin with a $ 50 million tranche.

The upcoming auction on 3 December will offer one-year, two-year, and three-year maturities. Rates will be determined through competitive bidding, with interest payable semi-annually or annually in accordance with domestic tax laws.

Subscriptions from locally incorporated licenced commercial banks will open at 9 a.m. on 1 December and close at noon on 3 December, with settlement scheduled for 10 December.

The minimum investment is $ 1 million, increasing in multiples of $ 100,000. Payments must be made to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka’s (CBSL) account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Transfers will be allowed on request through delivery and registration.

Authorities have positioned the Bond as a tool to mobilise dollars already within the domestic banking system rather than approaching international markets.

Before the default, the Central Bank issued Sri Lanka Development Bonds (SLDBs), which were suspended in February 2023.

In August 2023, holders of SLDBs agreed to exchange $ 791.4 million of their holdings for rupee-denominated Treasury Bonds under the Government’s Domestic Debt Optimisation (DDO) program. The eligible outstanding stock amounted to $ 837.5 million, giving the exchange an acceptance rate of 94.49%, including individual investors.

The SLDBs were replaced with five new rupee-denominated Treasury Bonds with variable coupons. The Government also undertook to settle overdue interest equivalent to $ 69.31 million in rupees.

The PDMO, established in January 2024 under the Finance Ministry and formalised through the Public Debt Management Act, now consolidates functions previously dispersed across the Central Bank, the Treasury, and the External Resources Department.

It is tasked with managing the entire public debt portfolio, implementing borrowing plans, conducting domestic and external restructuring, managing cash flows, and maintaining a single authoritative public debt database. The agency is central to International Monetary Fund (IMF) program compliance and efforts to restore market access.

The DDB was authorised by the Cabinet in October on a proposal submitted by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and issued after approval from the Central Bank under the Foreign Exchange Act, No. 12 of 2017.

The Cabinet last week also cleared the submission of the Public Debt Management Regulations to Parliament, further empowering the PDMO to engage directly with primary dealers and non-bank bidders and to set operational guidelines for Government securities issuance.

A market survey by the Central Bank’s Department of Public Debt in August indicated appetite of up to $ 100 million for tenors ranging from under one year to three years, supporting the decision to launch the instrument.

Sri Lanka is locked out of the international capital market till 2028. It has completed 99% of its external debt restructuring, including International Sovereign Bonds.

The Court of Appeal has issued notice on the Commissioner General of the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) and other State agencies after a writ application challenged the legality of the Government’s newly gazetted VAT refund scheme, which replaced the abolished Simplified VAT (SVAT) system.

The move comes amid warnings from exporters that the current framework could delay refunds and trigger serious cash-flow pressures.

The case was called before the Court of Appeal on 20 November. Counsels Boopathi Kahathuduwa and N.K. Ashokbharan, appearing for multiple chambers, told the Court that the IRD had issued Gazette No. 2456/02 dated 29 September 2025, which they argued does not meet the statutory requirements of the VAT Act.

They submitted that exporters now fear they will be unable to obtain timely VAT refunds, despite the law requiring an automated, risk-based refund mechanism to be operational from 1 October 2025 following the abolition of the SVAT earlier this year.

After hearing submissions, the Court determined that the application disclosed sufficient prima facie grounds and issued notice on the respondents, including the IRD, the Board of Investment, and others.

During the proceedings, the Attorney General, representing the State respondents, informed the Court that the IRD intends to publish further guidelines that may address the concerns raised by the petitioners.

Australia have ended a European tour winless for the first time in 67 years after a 48-33 defeat by France at the Stade de France.

It was the Wallabies’ fourth defeat of the autumn after losses to Italy, England, and Ireland – and their 10th of the year. And it is the second week in a row where Australia have conceded more than 40 points, following their 46-19 defeat by Ireland last Saturday.

This defeat marks a historic low for the Wallabies, who had not lost 10 Tests in a calendar year before.

It means Coach Joe Schmidt, who will depart after July’s Nations Championship, now has a win percentage of under 40%.

The Government is seeking to accelerate reserve accumulation, attract higher foreign investment, and maintain fiscal discipline to manage the rise in external debt repayments after 2028, Deputy Industry and Entrepreneurship Development Minister Chathuranga Abeysinghe told an online forum last week organised by Tellimer and Softlogic Stockbrokers.

He said Sri Lanka’s external debt service will rise by about $ 785 million from 2028, making it essential to build a stronger reserve buffer ahead of those obligations. ‘We are pretty sure that if we go through this trajectory, we will have enough reserves which do not have to trouble our consumption or external stability,’ he said.

Responding to investor concerns about the post-2028 outlook, he dismissed talk of a renewed repayment crisis. ‘There is a little bit of an unwanted fear,’ he said, noting that the restructuring has already smoothed the path. ‘The additional payments are manageable, and if we maintain this trajectory, we will be in a very strong position to meet our external commitments.’

Last September, independent economic think tank Arutha Research dispelled ‘overstated’ fears that Sri Lanka faces a looming debt servicing cliff when it resumes capital repayments of restructured foreign loans in 2028.

In 2028, Sri Lanka begins capital repayments on bilateral debt to Japan, EXIM Bank China, and EXIM Bank India, while bullet payments and maturities for Macro-Linked Bonds (MLBs) are also scheduled to begin that year. However, Arutha noted that the repayments amounted to an additional $ 1 billion compared to the $ 2 billion debt servicing requirements in 2026 and 2027 comprising interest payments and multilateral (ADB, World Bank) loan repayments.

It noted that the country is on track to reduce its debt burden faster than International Monetary Fund (IMF) baseline projections, though questions remain over whether the new Public Debt Management Office (PDMO) has the capacity to manage complex borrowing once it takes over from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) and External Resources Department.

Deputy Minister Abeysinghe told the online investor forum that fiscal discipline would remain beyond the IMF program. ‘Whether the IMF is there or not, maintaining fiscal discipline is the need of the hour,’ he said. ‘What I would like to see is another five-year forecast that we stick to.’

He said the reserve buildup must come from three sources: tourism, remittances, and higher foreign direct investment (FDI).

‘FDI is the big trick we need to figure out because that is going to build reserves faster than incremental growth in tourism or remittances,’ he said, adding that the Government aims to double annual FDI inflows from $ 1 billion to $ 2 billion within two to three years.

Sri Lanka’s IMF program, he said, has imposed fiscal discipline that had been missing from previous administrations. ‘What the IMF brought us was a rule book, a discipline, and a structure,’ he said. ‘The Government previously was not managing fiscal policy in an appropriate manner.’

The first meeting of the Centre Management Committee of the Organisation of Professional Associations (OPA) has taken place at the OPA auditorium recently, following the election of office bearers for the 2025/2026 term. The members of the Centre Management Committee are: President – Jayantha Gallehewa, President-Elect – Tisara De Silva, General Secretary – Eng. Ravi Rupasinghe, Treasurer Dharshana Wijemanne, Immediate Past President – Sujeewa Lal Dahanayake; Vice Presidents: Dr. Naresha B. Samarasekera, Eng. Chamil Edirimuni, Bhanu Wijayaratne, V. Rameshkumar, Priyantha Sahabandu, P. Gajendra, Dr. Sunil Abeyaratne, Dr. C.S. Dharmaratne, Chandrasiri Kalupahana, ACM (Retd.) Gagan Bulathsinghala, Dhammika Fernando, Ajith Gunasekera; Assistant Secretaries: K.C.N. Perera, Indika Ranaweera, Ishara Nuwan Balage; Editor – Priyantha Wickramaratne, Assistant Treasurer – Lalith Edirisooriya.

OPA is the apex body of 52 professional associations, representing 34 professions and over 60,000 members. The Centre Management Committee will focus on strengthening the voice and influence of professionals in national development, while promoting continuous learning, leadership excellence, and professional growth.

A Sri Lankan business delegation, organised by the Sri Lanka-Canada Business Council (SLCBC) of The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, with support from the Canada-Sri Lanka Business Convention (CSLBC), the Canadian High Commission in Sri Lanka, and the High Commission of Sri Lanka in Canada, has concluded a trade and investment mission in Canada from 28 October to 14 November.

The delegation represented the agriculture, IT, finance, tourism, education, and investment consultancy sectors, engaging Canadian business and Government leaders across Toronto, Quebec, Montreal, Saskatchewan, and Vancouver.

The mission commenced in Toronto with a courtesy call on the Consulate and CSLBC leadership. Discussions centred on expanding opportunities in banking, financial services, insurance, agri-tech, and medical tourism, as well as the role of the Consulate in facilitating trade and Canada’s growing interests in Indo-Pacific markets. Plans for an investment forum in Colombo and closer alignment on Canada-Sri Lanka diaspora-led trade and investment initiatives were also explored.

Delegates participated in a Business Forum and sectoral sessions covering tourism, agriculture, IT, education, and women’s entrepreneurship, while the proposed Overseas Citizens of Sri Lanka (OCSL) special visa scheme was also discussed. A networking reception featured the soft launch of the ‘Asia’s Emerging Economies Expo 2026,’ along with recognition from the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for the delegation’s contribution.

In Montreal, discussions with the Honorary Consul of Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan business leaders focused on investor facilitation and promoting the upcoming ‘Gateway to Growth’ trade fair.

In Quebec, delegates representing the education sector attended the Quebec Immigration and Integration Fair 2025, engaging with key stakeholders in international education and talent mobility.

Engagements in Saskatchewan highlighted opportunities for collaboration in food security, agriculture, and resource development. At the Global Institute for Food Security, the SLCBC appointed Dr. Ruben Rajkumar as the Goodwill Ambassador for Saskatchewan, recognising his efforts in strengthening ties with Sri Lanka. Visits to Bioriginal and the University of Saskatchewan revealed promising opportunities in value-added processing, smart agriculture, post-harvest technology, joint research initiatives, and strengthening export capabilities. Further discussions were held with the University of Regina on scholarships, joint degrees, and student mobility programs.

The delegation also met with Toronto city officials on potential collaboration in venture capital, trade exhibitions, and education partnerships.

The mission concluded with clear pathways for expanded economic, academic, and research cooperation, including diaspora-led initiatives, joint innovation projects, and sector-based partnerships.

Delegation leader and SLCBC President M.H.K.M. Hameez noted that the visit reinforced Canada’s growing interest in Sri Lanka’s strengths and created practical openings for long-term collaboration. He also emphasised that Sri Lanka is the best destination in Asia to grow Canadian businesses in the region. The SLCBC will now work closely with stakeholders in both countries to advance these opportunities toward implementation.

South Asia’s strong growth outlook masks a deep labour-market imbalance that is now intersecting with rapid technological change, creating new vulnerabilities for Sri Lanka, World Bank Economist Dr. Jonah Rexer said delivering the Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA) guest lecture on the South Asia Development Update.

He said the region remains the fastest-growing emerging market bloc, with growth projected at around 6% in 2026. But the underlying jobs problem – a working age population expanding faster than employment opportunities – continues to shape economic and social outcomes.

‘Growth has not been enough,’ he said, noting that South Asia has one of the widest gaps globally between labour force growth and job creation. For Sri Lanka, this has translated into persistent pressure on young workers and a weakening link between rising incomes and life satisfaction.

Sri Lanka, he said, reflects this broader trend. The post-crisis rebound has begun to stabilise, but the structural employment challenge remains intact.

Against this backdrop, Dr. Rexer said Artificial Intelligence (AI) is adding a new layer of disruption.

Although about 20% of jobs in South Asia are exposed to AI, the distribution of that exposure is concentrated in higher-skilled, younger workers in ICT, finance, and business process outsourcing.

Drawing on a dataset of 30 million online job postings, he said the region is already seeing a contraction in labour demand for substitutable roles such as software developers, call centre agents, and other entry-level professional services positions.

Sri Lanka’s early adoption rate of generative AI, around 10%, above the emerging market average, means these labour-market effects could arrive sooner.

The country’s exposed roles overlap closely with its export-oriented IT and BPM sectors, creating what he described as ‘a twin pressure point’ for Sri Lanka: technological displacement in precisely the industries expected to absorb young, educated workers.

Dr. Rexer said these AI dynamics intersect with Sri Lanka’s protected trade regime. South Asia is one of the world’s most tariff-protected regions, with about 40% of workers employed in sectors facing tariffs above 30%.

These highly protected sectors, including agriculture and low-productivity industry, have made a negative contribution to employment growth over the past decade, while low-tariff sectors have generated almost all net job creation, including in Sri Lanka.

He identified high tariffs on intermediate inputs as a major constraint on competitiveness.

Sri Lanka, like its regional peers, imposes input tariffs significantly above those of competitor economies, raising production costs in manufacturing and services that could otherwise expand into export markets.

Sectors such as textiles, apparel, electronics, pharmaceuticals and business services were highlighted as areas that would benefit directly from reducing intermediate input costs. Only about 13% of South Asia’s workforce is employed in export-linked jobs. Sri Lanka, he said, should be closer to double that share.

Labour-market rigidities further dilute the impact of tariff reform.

World Bank modelling indicates that when tariff reductions are paired with reforms that allow workers to move more easily between firms and regions, the GDP gains from trade liberalisation almost double. Without such mobility reforms, he said, tariff cuts alone deliver limited benefits.

Dr. Rexer said Sri Lanka’s ability to manage AI disruption and benefit from trade reform hinges on workers being able to shift into more productive sectors.

Strengthening digital access, reducing input costs, improving skills and easing labour-market frictions, he said, are prerequisites for translating technological and trade reforms into broad-based employment gains.