In January 2024, Sri Lanka witnessed a significant decrease in private credit by 52.2 billion rupees, following increases in December and November of the previous year. This fluctuation came amidst a backdrop of rising imports and a value added tax hike anticipated in December, suggesting a spike...

The report from PublicFinance.lk, managed by the independent think tank Verité Research, highlights that Sri Lanka imposes a significantly high tax rate of 47.1% on sanitary napkins, which is considerably higher than the taxes on certain non-essential items such as gold jewellery (30.6%),...

Sri Lanka's gross official reserves reached US$ 4,500 million as of January, with US$ 1.4 billion being a Chinese yuan-denominated swap, as reported by the Central Bank. President Ranil Wickremesinghe announced in Parliament that the country's usable foreign exchange reserves have surged...

Sri Lanka's central bank engaged in swap transactions borrowing US dollars, reaching over $3.2 billion by December 2024. This borrowing has significantly increased the central bank's net short position by nearly $1.28 billion within two years, highlighting a growing reliance on such finan...