Browsing VR Insights by Title

Now showing items 21-40 of 73

    • Explaining the Mirage of GDP Growth Optimism 

      VR Insights;Vol. 2, No. 14
      Abeysinghe, Subhashini       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2014-08)
      The government estimates that by 2015 per capita GDP will quadruple from what it was in 2004. But this is a mirage: real incomes will not even double in that period. The mirage is created by counting in US dollars and ...

    • Export Competitiveness: Moving from USA towards Asia 

      Verité Insights;
      Verité Research       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2015-05-06)
      Over 50 percent of Sri Lanka’s exports go to the USA and the West. While Sri Lanka’s total exports remain tilted towards the USA and the West, growth is tilting to the East, and more towards Asia. The consequence of the ...

    • The Exporting Problem of SMEs: Finance is one solution 

      Verité Insights;
      Econ Team       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2015-09)
      Since the turn of the century, not only have Sri Lankan exports declined as a share of its GDP, but also in terms of its global share. Sri Lanka had a larger global share of exports at Independence, than at present. There ...

    • Exports to India – Putting the free back into the FTA 

      VR Insights;Vol. 3, No. 14
      Munas, Hasna; Nathaniel, Vidya       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2015-07)
      Sri Lanka’s history with bi-lateral trade agreements demonstrates the need for more careful negotiation. This Insight explains how the tariff benefits of the India Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (ISFTA) have been outweighed ...

    • Fixing NTBs between India and Sri Lanka 

      VR Insights;Vol. 3, No. 15
      Nathaniel, Vidya; Munas, Hasna       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2015-08)
      The Insight examines the issue of non-tarrif barriers (NTBs) faced by exporters of processed foods from Sri Lanka to India, in the context of ensuring compliance with standards and regulations. It concludes with proposing ...

    • Fixing Sri Lanka’s Revenue Problem is a Priority 

      VR Insights;
      Econ Team       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2017-02-10)
      Taxes are the key source of government revenue. Normally, tax share as a percentage of GDP is expected to increase as per capita GDP rises. This Insight shows that in Sri Lanka, this is not the case; the country’s per ...

    • Flawed rationale behind EPF re-entering the stock market = කොටස් වෙළඳපොලට සේවක අර්ථසාධක අරමුදල (සේ.අ.අ.) නැවත ඇතුල්වීම පිටුපස ඇති සාවද්‍ය තර්කය 

      Verité Insights;Vol 7, No. 1
      Kapilan, Anushan       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2019)
      At the end of 2018, the EPF resolved to re-enter the stock market despite substantial losses and allegations of mismanagement on EPF’s equity investments in the past. The EPF provides two reasons for the decision: (i) that ...

    • Good Governance is Not Just for Politicians: Case for cigarette taxation=යහපාලනය දේශපාලකයන් සඳහා පමණක් නොවෙයි; දුම්වැටි බදුකරණයට නතු කිරීම 

      Verité Insights;
      Verité Research       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2015-04-22)
      The Excise taxes on products such as cigarettes and alcohol are a significant source of government revenue. Understanding how these taxes should be adjusted in keeping with price increases and being diligent in implementing ...

    • The Hidden Side of Cigarette Pricing 

      Verité Insights;Vol. 05; No. 02
      Fernando, Nilangika; Munas, Hasna       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2018-07)
      This insight examines how analysis of past tax and price data reveals two aspects of cigarette pricing that are hidden from media reporting. First, net-of-tax price grew at a faster rate than the tax per cigarette; second, ...

    • Improving Sri Lanka’s Business Environment: It’s not so difficult 

      Verité Insights;
      Econ Team       (2014-11)
      In his budget speech, Finance Minister, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said Sri Lanka “aims at gaining a ranking among the top 10 countries in Asia Pacific in the Doing Business Index (DBI).” This Insight finds constructive ...

    • Is Blocking Websites Making Sri Lankan Telecom Share Prices Vulnerable? 

      Verité Insights;Vol 2, No. 12
      Corea, Viran; Knight, Malathy       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2014-07)
      If Sri Lankan Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are blocking news websites without due diligence, then their present and future share values are vulnerable. This Insight explains what ISPs should do to ensure minimum due ...

    • Is the Right to Information Good for Business? 

      Verité Insights;
      Econ Team       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2015-03)
      Prior to the enactment of the RTI Act in Sri Lanka in 2016, a debate had arisen on whether enacting a right to information (RTI) law could impede businesses. The main concern was that competitors could use the RTI process ...

    • Justice in Slow Motion Corrodes Sri Lanka's Economy 

      Verité Insights;
      Econ Team       (2013-07)
      The Insight discusses three aspects regarding the inherent lengthy delays in the Sri Lankan court system. First, delays in dispute resolution are costly—and not merely in legal fees, but in investments and initiatives ...

    • Making Public Data Public: Sri Lanka Misses its Own Targets While India Races Ahead 

      Verité Insights;Vol. 09, No. 04
      Razick, Salma; Munas, Hasna; de Mel, Nishan       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2021-07)
      The Department of Census and Statistics aims to be the ‘leader in the region’ in producing and providing timely statistical information. However, this insight shows, it has failed in providing public access to data in three ...

    • More of the Same: Budget 2016 increases protection and dependence on trade taxes 

      Verité Insights;
      Verité Research       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2015-12-08)
      Sri Lanka was amongst the early movers in trade and economic liberalisation in South Asia. However, this initiative was somewhat backtracked upon in the past 10 years. This insight points out that, despite the claims, the ...

    • The new Ministers of Finance: Will their budget keep its promises? 

      VR Insight;August 2017
      Abeysinghe, Subhashini       (Colombo: Verite Research, 2017-08)
      An analysis of past budgets revel large deviations between budgeted allocations and actual expenditure. This shows that expectations set by the government during the budget speech are not honoured. This Insight analyses ...

    • Parliament and Cabinet Needs Reliable Economic Analysis 

      Verité Insights;
      Verité Research       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2015-06-10)
      A regular feature of Sri Lanka’s public debates and writing on economic issues is that they are infused with factual inaccuracies or claims that are quite misleading. This reflects poor political and public understanding ...

    • Parliament should have a formula for regulating cigarettes 

      VR Insights;Vol. 2, No. 11
      Fernando, Nilangika       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2014-06)
      Variations in the tobacco excise tax affects Rs. 10s of billions in government revenue. Taxation and pricing have been inconsistent. This insight explains how the lack of a consistent method allows wide discretion to ...

    • Policy Needed on Environment: REDD+ is a plus 

      Verité Insights;
      Verité Research       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2014-03-14)
      The prime minister of Sri Lanka made a policy statement on 5th November 2013 to indicate the future priorities of the new government. It had over 70 inspirational statements indicating a wide array of issues and subjects ...

    • The post war growth bump has hit the ceiling 

      Verité Insights;
      Econ Team       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2013-08)
      This article explores the question of whether Sri Lanka could expect higher sustained GDP growth post-war and concludes that the post-war bump-up is over for the time being. It suggests that the high growth is unsustainable ...