Category: Daily Financial Times

‘Throughout history many nations have suffered a physical defeat, but that never marked the end of a nation. But when a natin has become the victim of a psychological defeat, then that marks the end of a nation’ (Ibn Khaldun)

It was the late Ayatollah Khomeini who described US as the ‘Greatest Satan’ and the US Embassy as a ‘den of spies and espionage’. What happened afterwards is history with revolutionary consequences US lost one of its wealthiest and strategic allies in the Middle East to maintain the imperial order. The shah and his family were thrown out of the country and the revolution ended in putting to power a semi-theocratic Government. But the scars of that wound continue to hurt the superpower till now, and the surviving remnants of Iran’s Pahlavi Dynasty are still looking for an opportunity to stage a comeback. That opportunity came in the recent expression of public discontent over rising cost of living, which in fact is a global pandemic emanating from a collapsing world economic order built on the foundation of extractive capitalism. However, what began as a protest over economic mismanagement was soon hijacked and turned into a murderous riot by mercenary elements funded and armed by agencies from outside. US and Israel are obviously the main culprits behind this convulsion. Global North’s media propaganda spread its own narrative that what is taking place in Iran is a political campaign calling for regime change. President Trump promised the rioters that help was on the way, and the son of the late Shah started preparing for his return and be installed by Trump as the future Iranian monarch. In short, the riots seem to be a prelude to the next US-Iran-Israel war with unpredictable consequences.

Recent adventure in Venezuela

Trump’s recent adventure in Venezuela, which was tactically a successful ploy has given his megalomaniac ego a big boost, and he is now threatening to repeat the same in Greenland and other South American and Caribbean countries. But whether he would succeed in his ultimate objective of taking control over Venezuela’s oil resources, which are by far the largest known on record, by promoting a vassal state in Venezuela is extremely doubtful given the revolutionary history of that part of the world. Anti-US demonstrations have already started in Cuba, and they are destined to spread to other countries in the region. It is also his greed for oil and rare earth minerals and not US defence which made his move on Greenland. But Iran is a different kettle of fish. The country’s anti-US semi-theocratic Government has become a menacing obstacle to the imperialist aspirations of US-led Global North in protecting the Middle East Order which it created after WWII. Iran has already lost a great deal of its influence in Middle Eastern affairs after the fall of Asad regime in Syria. Its influence now is confined to the support it renders to the forces of armed resistance against US-Israel expansionism in that region. This is why Trump and Netanyahu realise that destroying Iran’s military arsenal and its economy is a prerequisite not only to colonise Gaza and Occupied West Bank but also and more strategically to stop China’s One Road Belt from penetrating the Middle East. But more immediately, Iran needs to be subdued if Trump’s dream of a new Riviera in Gaza were to materialise via the second phase of his so-called ceasefire plan.

According to information available so far, Gaza Strip would be administered by a 15-member committee of technocrats apparently headed by a 67-year-old civil engineer Dr. Ali Abdel Hamid Shaath, a native of Gaza residing in the Occupied West Bank.

Board of Peace

This committee in turn would function under the supervision of a 7-member Board of Peace including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Jared Kushner the son-in-law of Trump and businessman, Steve Wittcof the US special envoy to Middle East and the infamous Tony Blair and three others. Trump has invited Egypt, Turkey and Qatar to join and Israel has opposed the inclusion of Turkey and Qatar. That Board, which is expected to include even more members would be chaired by Trump himself, and in his own words, it would be ‘the greatest board ever appointed anywhere, anytime’. There is also going to be an Executive Board to play an advisory role. And above all, an International Stabilisation Force to be headed by US army General Jasper Jeffers. In fact, the entire machinery resembles a colonial framework. Trump so far said nothing about Israel which still holds 60% of Gaza’s territory but has threatened Hamas with unparallel consequences if it fails to disarm completely and remain just an onlooker of the unfolding drama. It appears that several factions within Hamas are previewing the second phase, and according to a senior Hamas leader Bassam Nain, ‘the ball is now in the court of the mediators, the American guarantor and the international community’, which implies a conditional ‘Yes’. But the newly appointed head of Hamas’ Qassam Brigade, Izz al-Din al-Haddad earlier stated that there would be no change in their resistance path. Just as Europe faced the ‘Eastern Question’ on the eve of the collapse of Ottoman Empire and found the answer in dividing the Ottoman territory into respective colonial zones between Britain and France, US-led Global North (GN) is now facing the question of an Independent Palestine State on the eve of Israel’s genocide and destruction of Gaza. The fact that this genocide and destruction was lavishly funded and weaponised by GN is a different story. Recently, Israel’s far right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich declared that Gaza belongs to Israel and wanted Trump’s plan to be scrapped. For the moment, Trump’s second phase with all his institutional paraphernalia and boast is in essence answering that question by proposing a colonial takeover.

Once the committee of technocrats, the Board of Peace and other agencies are put in place one of the immediate tasks facing this colonial structure is to find the financial resources to rebuild Gaza, the cost of which is conservatively estimated to be around $70 billion. Previous colonial experience in Global South shows that colonies were ruled by exploiting their natural resources and by taxing the population. After the genocide and devastation of Gaza there is no hope for any revenue from taxation, but there is plenty of dollars in the oil and gas resources underneath Palestinian waters. Trump’s greedy eyes fell on it already in 2015 during his first term in office, and the Abraham Accord signed by Israel, UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco already was born as a result. Recently, Qatar too suggested that the exploitation of this resource could fund Gaza’s rebuilding expenses. Thus, Gaza and Occupied West Bank are ready to be colonised without spending a cent by Israel and Global Norh. But will the new colonial era end when it ends with an Independent State of Palestine? That is the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question.

The Muslim world and Israel

So long as the Muslim world and particularly its Arab sector remains sectarian and disunited it could forget the dream of an independent Palestine state ever happening. GN will exploit this division to protect is Midde East Order with Israel as its gatekeeper. Iran, despite its Shiite theocratic outfit, is by far the only Muslim country that has the militarily capacity and diplomatic expertise capable of checking Israeli expansionism in the Middle East. It is also more China and Russia aligned than any other Muslim country. This is the reason why the megalomaniac Trump is determined to destroy Iran’s economy as well as its military. One should not forget the fact that soon after Iran’s 1979 revolution when a wave of religious awakening started engulfing the Muslim world calling for an Islamic Order, US was in the forefront of a propaganda to convince the awakened that the revolution was part of a violent Shiite history and that Sunnis should keep away from it and follow their peaceful path for political and socio-economic changes. The Shia-Sunni division was driven in to isolate Iran. The1980 Iran-Iraq war was also the handiwork of US-led GN to destroy Iran. The same tactic is repeated today in the face of the anti-Israeli wave of protest within the Sunni world on behalf of Iran-backed and Hamas-led armed resistance against Israelis genocide in Gaza. Having dubbed that protest as antisemitism, which is historically and factually incorrect, Trump is betting the success of his colonial phase of the Ceasefire in exploiting the Shia-Sunni divide. Already eight Sunni Muslim countries had endorsed his cease fire plan and now he has invited Egypt, Turkey and UAE to join his Board of Peace. The outcome of Trump’s solution to Gaza is not an Independent State of Palestine but an expanded state of Israel with Gaza and the Occupied West Bank annexed with it. The third holiest mosque Al-Aqsa has fallen already under Israeli boots, but what is the guarantee that the first and second in Saudi Arabia are safe in the future?

Commercial Bank of Ceylon has partnered with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, on a $ 60 million Risk Sharing Facility (RSF) to significantly expand the bank’s capacity for SME lending nationwide, with priority for women-led enterprises (WSMEs) and agribusinesses.

Under this partnership, IFC will provide risk cover for a $ 60 million (equivalent to over Rs. 18.5 billion) portfolio of new SME loans issued by Commercial Bank. By assuming 50% of the credit risk, this facility empowers the bank to sustainably scale its lending capacity and solidify its standing as Sri Lanka’s premier SME lender. This agreement comes at a time when Sri Lanka is consolidating recovery and capitalising on emerging growth opportunities across key sectors.

The Risk Sharing Facility (RSF) will. This targeted approach directly promotes financial inclusion while strengthening productive sectors essential to Sri Lanka’s long-term resilience and economic expansion, the Bank said.

Supported by the IDA Private Sector Window Blended Finance Facility, through the Small Loan Guarantee Program (SLGP), the Facility further enables the bank to adopt a more flexible approach to credit assessment. By prioritising long-term business potential where traditional security might otherwise be a constraint, Commercial Bank can now extend vital funding to segments that have historically faced barriers to finance.

Beyond expanding the bank’s immediate lending headroom, this initiative is expected to catalyse broader market development by encouraging other financial institutions to enhance their own SME portfolios.

Commenting on the collaboration, Commercial Bank Managing Director/CEO Sanath Manatunge said: ‘This risk sharing facility with IFC represents a powerful vote of confidence in Commercial Bank’s long-standing commitment to Sri Lanka’s SME sector. As the country navigates post-crisis recovery, sustained access to credit is essential for small and medium enterprises to rebuild, adapt and grow. This partnership allows us to expand our lending capacity responsibly, while prioritising customer segments such as WSMEs and agri sector that are critical to inclusive and resilient economic growth.’

He added that the initiative is firmly aligned with the bank’s purpose-driven SME strategy. ‘For five years running, Commercial Bank has been the largest lender to SMEs in Sri Lanka because we recognise these enterprises as the backbone of the economy. By working with IFC to share risk and unlock new financing, we are strengthening our ability to stand with entrepreneurs who create jobs, sustain communities and drive national development.’

IFC Regional Industry Director for Financial Institutions Group – Asia and the Pacific Allen Forlemu said the partnership underscored IFC’s commitment to strengthening access to finance where it matters most. ‘Real economic progress happens when entrepreneurs have the tools to turn their resources into thriving enterprises. Through this collaboration with the Commercial Bank of Ceylon, we aim to deliver targeted solutions to bridge the financing gap and expand financing capacity for small businesses across Sri Lanka. Our goal is to create a ripple effect: when these businesses succeed, they create jobs, support families, and build a more inclusive future. This latest initiative continues IFC’s more than two-decade partnership with Commercial Bank, advancing SME growth and economic resilience – fully aligned with the World Bank Group’s mission and supporting national development priorities.’

Commercial Bank has been Sri Lanka’s largest lender to Sri Lanka’s SME sector for the past five consecutive years, accounting for more than 30% of total SME lending by the banking industry in 2024, according to Finance Ministry data. This new facility builds directly on that leadership, allowing the bank to further deepen its reach and impact among SMEs that play a vital role in employment generation, domestic production and economic resilience.

The collaboration also reflects a long-standing strategic partnership between Commercial Bank and IFC that dates back more than two decades. Over the years, IFC has supported the bank’s growth through equity investments, funding and advisory services, with a shared focus on SME development, women’s economic empowerment, sustainable finance, digitalisation and economic resilience.

By building on its deep institutional partnership with IFC, Commercial Bank continues to reinforce its leadership in SME financing, combining scale, innovation and development-focused collaboration to support enterprises across Sri Lanka as they recover, expand and contribute to sustainable economic growth.

Hemas Holdings PLC has received approval from the Competition Authority of Kenya for its proposed acquisition of a majority equity stake in a consumer products company based in Kenya.

The clearance relates to a Share Sale and Purchase Agreement entered into on 25 September 2025. The company said that it is currently progressing with the remaining conditions precedent to the transaction, including obtaining approval from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

Hemas said it will inform the Colombo Stock Exchange of further developments in due course.

Hayleys Leisure has announced the official launch of its ESG Roadmap 2030, ‘The Hive Effect,’ at a special ceremony held at the Chas. P. Hayley Lounge, Hayleys PLC. The event was graced by Chairman Mohan Pandithage, Managing Director – Hayleys Leisure Rohan Karr, Senior Leadership of Hayleys Group, alongside Heads of Departments and General Managers across the leisure sector.

‘The Hive Effect’ marks a defining milestone in Hayleys Leisure’s commitment to sustainable transformation. More than a framework, it is a philosophy inspired by the resilience, harmony and collective strength of a thriving hive. Just as every bee contributes to the wellbeing of the colony, ‘The Hive Effect’ underscores the belief that meaningful change emerges when individuals, teams, communities and partners unite with shared purpose.

The roadmap outlines a comprehensive strategy covering guest-engaged sustainability programs, employee and community-driven initiatives, long-term supplier collaborations, in-house vegetable gardening, climate-smart agriculture, compost manufacturing, biodiversity conservation, renewable energy adoption, responsible waste management and water stewardship. Together, these initiatives create an integrated model of regenerative hospitality, one that not only minimises impact but restores ecosystems, uplifts communities and inspires conscious travel.

The launch marked the beginning of a new chapter for Hayleys Leisure, reinforcing its role as a leader in shaping the future of responsible tourism in Sri Lanka. With this roadmap, the organisation steps boldly toward a future where hospitality becomes a catalyst for regeneration, revitalising nature, empowering people and strengthening the communities that surround its properties.

A Select Committee of Parliament appointed to inquire into the release of 323 containers from the Port of Colombo without mandatory physical inspection has decided to meet weekly and complete its investigations within three months.

The Committee will meet every Wednesday at 2 p.m., commencing on 28 January, to conduct hearings and gather evidence before submitting its report, proposals and recommendations to Parliament.

The decision was taken at the inaugural meeting of the Committee held on 21 January, chaired by Justice and National Integration Minister Attorney-at-Law Harshana Nanayakkara. During the meeting, members held a preliminary discussion on the structure of future proceedings and the parties to be summoned before the Committee. The Chairman stated that the inquiry is expected to be concluded within a three-month period.

The Committee’s mandate is to examine the circumstances surrounding the release of the 323 containers from the Port of Colombo without being subjected to mandatory physical inspection and to make recommendations to prevent similar occurrences.

Amid growing criticism that micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) affected by Cyclone Ditwah were not receiving adequate recovery support, Economic Development Deputy Minister Nishantha Jayaweera and Finance Ministry officials recently conducted a seminar for Parliamentarians on the Government’s initiatives to date.

According to the Parliament Secretariat, Finance Ministry officials pointed out that the Government has addressed the biggest challenges faced by MSMEs: access to credit due to a lack of collateral and high interest rates.

As a response to high interest rates, a refinancing loan scheme implemented through Government or development partners’ funds, as well as interest subsidy loans, has been introduced, with Rs. 95.7 billion allocated for interest subsidy loans for 2026.

Since 16 December 2025, three State banks have commenced issuing working capital loans required for the rapid recovery of MSMEs affected by Cyclone Ditwah. In addition, 13 more banks, including private banks, have expressed willingness to enter into agreements to provide these loans.

The Finance Ministry has also allocated Rs. 10 billion to be provided to banks interest-free to lend up to Rs. 25 million to MSMEs at 3% interest.

Furthermore, under the loan facility for the revival of MSMEs, loans of up to Rs. 25 million can be obtained at 5% interest through all State and private banks, with Rs. 25 billion allocated for this purpose in 2026, Finance Ministry officials said.

In addition, discussions were held on the operations of the National Credit Guarantee Institution (NCGI), established to address the difficulty entrepreneurs face in providing collateral when obtaining loans.

At present, collateral coverage of 67% is provided for the relevant loan amount, while 80% coverage is provided for women entrepreneurs.

MPs pointed out that providing collateral coverage for only 67% of the loan amount, leaving 33% uncovered, poses practical difficulties and requires attention. They also noted that MSMEs had not been adequately informed about the scheme.

Finance Ministry officials said Rs. 800 million has been allocated for a Rs. 5 million agriculture loan scheme, which is expected to roll out by the second week of February.

MPs were also briefed on a proposed loan scheme to be implemented through Asian Development Bank funding and other loan schemes offering interest subsidies.

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, several Deputy Ministers, and MPs attended the session.

The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the cancellation of the previously approved Medical Equipment Division Development Loan Project, which was to be implemented with concessional financing from the Economic Development Cooperation Fund of the Korean Export-Import Bank, Cabinet Spokesman and Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa said.

The project had received Cabinet approval in April 2019 with the objective of strengthening diagnostic and treatment capacity at healthcare institutions islandwide through the procurement of essential medical equipment. However, subsequent reviews identified practical implementation constraints.

During discussions held in Colombo in June 2025 with the Economic Development Cooperation Fund of the Korean Export-Import Bank, both parties agreed on the appropriateness of cancelling the project and exploring alternative initiatives with a stronger alignment to current national health priorities.

Accordingly, Cabinet has approved a proposal submitted by the Minister of Health and Mass Media to formally cancel the project and to proceed with obtaining funding from the Korean Export-Import Bank to conduct a feasibility study for the re-establishment of the Matara General Hospital at Kaburugamuwa, in line with the Comprehensive Plan for Matara Urban Development.

Suwasevana Hospital, Kandy, with over 40 years of excellence, has renewed its Memorandum of Understanding with the National Insurance Trust Fund (NITF) for a further three-year period, reinforcing a shared commitment to accessible, reliable, and quality healthcare for Sri Lankan government employees covered under the Agrahara Insurance scheme.

The renewed agreement was formalised on 6 January, at an official MoU signing ceremony attended by senior representatives from both organisations. The partnership is designed to extend enhanced medical benefits and exclusive discounts to public sector employees, supporting greater affordability and improved access to specialised healthcare services.

Under the renewed MoU, government employees covered by Agrahara Insurance will be eligible for a structured set of benefits at Suwasevana Hospital. These include free admission fee, free OPD consultations with the Medical Officer, and a 20 percent discount on room rates. The agreement also provides a 10 percent discount on laboratory investigations for inward patients and OPD patients, a 10 percent discount on radiology investigations for inward patients and OPD patients including CT, USS, MRI, Mammogram, Dexa Scan, and X Ray, and a 10% discount on cardiology investigations for OPD and IP including ECHO and ECG. In addition, ambulance service is provided free of charge up to 10 kilometres, excluding professional fees, and a benefit of Rs. 50,000 is applicable for CABG, Coronary Artery Bypass Graft.

Suwasevana Hospital Head of Business Development Srimath Walivita said: ‘This renewed MoU with NITF strengthens our ability to support government employees covered by Agrahara with tangible, cost-saving benefits across key hospital services. It is a practical partnership focused on making quality care more accessible, while maintaining the standards and patient experience Suwasevana is trusted for.’

The renewal of this MoU reflects Suwasevana Hospital’s continued focus on strengthening partnerships that contribute meaningfully to Sri Lanka’s healthcare ecosystem and support the wellbeing of the nation’s public sector workforce.

Paris-based Koaloo.Fi, an award-winning fintech specialising in supply chain performance, sustainability, and financing solutions, has announced a strategic partnership with Dubai and Colombo-based Stredge, recognised for its strong local presence and hands-on expertise supporting companies operating in complex and fast-evolving markets.

Koaloo.Fi helps corporates, financial institutions, and suppliers improve supply chain performance through data, AI-driven analytics, and financing solutions. Koaloo.Fi was named Fintech of the Year 2025 (Universwiftnet / L’AGEFI), ESG Fintech 100, and Most Innovative Fintech (Treasury Management International), and operates across EMEA and Asia-Pacific.

Stredge supports companies, both local and global, navigating complex markets with multiple-sector expertise, and hands-on advisory focused on transformation and growth, empowering people, optimising operations, accelerating with technology, strengthening financials, and leading responsibly.

The partnership brings together highly complementary strengths. Stredge has deep local market knowledge, operational expertise, and close relationships with corporates and their supply chains. When combined with Koaloo.FI’s advanced sustainability technology platform, powered by artificial intelligence and data analytics, the partnership enables companies to have robust risk management, gain immediate profitability and fund long-term resilience.

The partnership also addresses the demands of a rapidly changing global trade environment. Global supply chains are being fundamentally reshaped by geopolitical fragmentation, new tariff regimes, trade route reconfigurations, and increasing regulatory pressure for transparency. At the same time, companies face rising expectations around ESG performance, climate disclosures, and emerging carbon pricing mechanisms such as the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).

Supply chains represent up to 90% of corporate ESG impact and around 40% of total profitability, yet remain structurally underfinanced, with an estimated $ 7 trillion global trade and supply chain finance gap. Addressing supplier performance, resilience, and access to liquidity has therefore become a strategic priority.

Together, Koaloo.Fi and Stredge aim to help companies go beyond compliance to improve cash flow, protect margins, and strengthen supply chain resilience in an increasingly volatile global environment.

Senior Consultant for Sustainability and Supply Chain Resilience, Prasanna Hettiarachchi is on board with Stredge, driving the sustainability pillar. He brings over three decades of hands-on leadership, strategy, and execution experience across corporate, industry, and national contexts.

Koaloo.Fi’s Co-founder and CEO Mallika Mathur Lheritier said: ‘This partnership reflects our shared conviction that supply chain transformation must deliver immediate economic value, not just long-term compliance. By combining Stredge’s local execution capabilities with Koaloo.Fi’s advanced technology and financing solutions, we enable companies to act faster, finance smarter, and build more resilient supply chains.’

Stredge Consulting Middle East’s Director and CEO Chester Cruse said: ‘Our clients are seeking pragmatic solutions to today’s trade, cost, and regulatory challenges. Partnering with Koaloo.Fi allows us to complement our on-the-ground expertise with cutting-edge technology and innovative financing to deliver measurable impact across supply chains.’

Stredge Sri Lanka and Middle East Director Sumedha Wijesekera said: ‘The strategic partnership with Koaloo.Fi will play a major role in creating value in supply chain transformation for our clients in all the markets we operate.’

Sri Lanka is witnessing a conflict that has long simmered beneath the surface but has now erupted publicly across towns and districts. What appears to be a dispute between traditional three-wheeler and taxi operators and app-based ride-hailing drivers is no longer just about passengers. It has become a broader argument about economic direction and whether the country genuinely intends to build a modern, tourism-friendly economy.

On the surface, the grievance is simple: drivers outside digital platforms argue that app-based taxis reduce their customer base and should be restricted. For years, the informal taxi economy has thrived on negotiated, inconsistent fares shaped by limited choice and information imbalance. Ride-hailing platforms disrupted that model by introducing what informal systems struggle to counter: efficiency and transparency.

And that is why the clash has escalated. Because the issue is not mobility. It is visibility.

Ride-hailing platforms did more than make transportation convenient; they shifted the balance of power between customers and service providers. By offering predictable pricing, route tracking, and greater accountability, they delivered protections the informal market often cannot match.

Most importantly, they established a clear reference point for pricing. Once customers know what a ride should cost, it becomes far more difficult to justify charging two or three times that amount, whether exploiting a tourist’s unfamiliarity or taking advantage of the lack of alternatives at a given moment.

That is why resistance has surfaced in such a forceful manner. Not because the app-based system is perfect, but because it threatens a model that relies on uncertainty.

A Tourism Reality we Cannot Ignore

What is often missing from this debate is the tourism angle, and it is not a side issue. It is central.

The strongest motivation behind the attempt to block app-based taxis is not merely local livelihood. It is also the desire to capture Sri Lanka’s booming tourism market, particularly in high-footfall areas where visitor demand creates strong daily earning potential.

But Sri Lanka must confront an inconvenient truth: a large portion of today’s tourists are not high-spending luxury travellers. They are backpackers, budget travellers, independent explorers, and lower-to-middle income tourists seeking affordable experiences. They travel with tight budgets. They plan daily spending carefully. They choose destinations based on value for money.

And one of the most important reasons these travellers are currently comfortable choosing Sri Lanka is because transport has become more transparent and affordable. The rise of app-based mobility has reduced uncertainty, reduced price shocks, and made it easier for visitors to move confidently from place to place without feeling exploited.

For the budget traveller, transport is not a minor cost. It is the backbone of the trip. If that backbone becomes unpredictable or overpriced, the destination stops feeling accessible.

Affordable Transport Feeds the Rural Economy

There is another critical point Sri Lanka must understand: the backpacker and budget tourism segment is not merely about ‘low spending,’ but also about high mobility.

This category of traveller does not remain trapped inside luxury hotels and curated packages. They move, explore, and spend directly in local economies, particularly outside the traditional tourism hubs. Sri Lanka’s growing network of low-cost bed-and-breakfasts, homestays, guesthouses, and small family-run lodgings across the country has expanded largely because budget travellers prefer simple accommodation, provided they can move around cheaply and safely. Affordable transport makes this possible.

When transport is reasonably priced, travellers are more likely to visit smaller towns, take detours, stay extra nights in rural areas, and distribute their spending among ordinary people. This is the kind of tourism that injects money into the bottom of the pyramid: the family renting out a room, the woman running a small café, the young entrepreneur operating a scooter rental, the farmer selling fruit, and the village guide earning an honest fee.

In other words, app-based mobility is not just a transport mechanism. It is a rural economic enabler. If Sri Lanka restricts this mobility ecosystem, it does not merely inconvenience tourists. It disrupts the informal rural revenue streams that have recently emerged as a rare success story of grassroots tourism development.

This is where the argument becomes impossible to ignore. Attempts to remove or restrict app-based taxis may temporarily restore higher earnings for a limited group of operators, but they can also make Sri Lanka less attractive to the tourist segment currently driving volume.

If a backpacker arrives in Sri Lanka expecting a fair, affordable, budget travel experience, but immediately encounters inflated and unpredictable transport pricing; Sri Lanka stops feeling like value. It starts feeling like risk.

The result is not just frustration, but something far more damaging: negative travel reviews, social media warnings, and a silent shift in tourist behaviour. Budget travellers do not negotiate endlessly. They simply adjust their routes, shorten their stay, or choose a different country next time.

And when that happens, Sri Lanka does not only lose rides. It loses bed nights in guesthouses, meals in small cafés, tickets to local sites, and the daily informal spending that keeps rural tourism alive.

More importantly, it loses foreign exchange.

A Catch-22 for Sri Lanka’s Leadership

This crisis also exposes Sri Lanka’s deeper policy contradiction.

Every government wants to be associated with modernisation and promoting digitisation. It sounds forward-looking, investor-friendly, and future-ready. But when digital transformation begins to disrupt old networks and informal earning structures, the resistance becomes political.

Sri Lanka’s leadership is now trapped in a Catch-22. If the State supports app-based mobility, it risks angering informal groups that are organised and politically connected. If the State steps back and restricts platforms, it undermines national credibility and sends a message that digital systems are reversible whenever pressure is applied.

Digital transformation cannot survive if it is treated as optional or allowed only until it becomes effective. Another troubling assumption emerging in the public discourse is that consumer benefit is negotiable.

The underlying demand from anti-platform protests is not only about fairness. It is also about restoring a market where customers can be charged more because they have fewer options. But a modern economy cannot be built on the idea that consumers must accept inefficiency so that outdated pricing structures can remain profitable.

Sri Lanka is already battling high living costs, fragile household budgets, and a public exhausted by economic shocks. In that environment, denying citizens reasonable pricing and predictable service is not just an inconvenience, but an economic regression.

Sri Lanka Must Decide

This dispute has become national because it reflects Sri Lanka’s larger struggle: the desire to modernise without confronting what modernisation requires.

No economy becomes competitive by protecting inefficiency. No country grows tourism by allowing visitors to feel exploited, nor can a government claim to support digitisation while permitting digital services to be dismantled by protest.

Sri Lanka must decide between a future based on transparent systems that benefit the public, attract the modern traveller, and support rural livelihoods, or preserving an old model where price inflation is defended as entitlement. The choice is no longer theoretical. It is already unfolding on the streets.

If efficiency is blocked in the name of protecting inflated pricing power, the country will not only lose a battle over taxis but something far more valuable: trust, competitiveness, and the desperately needed tourism-driven foreign exchange.