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The Desirability of Domestic Debt Restructuring

Background Note;No. 03
Peiris, Udara (Colombo: Verite Research, 2022-10)

Sri Lanka faces a challenge to emerge from the continuing economic crisis of unsustainable public debt. This paper sets out four important reasons to undertake an early domestic debt restructuring (DDR), by way of reprofiling ...

Targeting Assistance: Electricity Consumption is a Superior Method

Background Note;No. 02
Siyambalapitiya, Sumini; Gunewardena, Dileni (Colombo: Verite Research, 2022-07)

This note recommends household electricity use as a determinant of eligibility for welfare benefits. As Sri Lanka’s crisis continues, up to 50% or more of the population is likely to need state support, however current ...

Restoring Efficient Tax Collection Methods: Withholding Tax and Pay-As-You-Earn

Background Note;No. 01
Gunewardena, Dileni; de Mel, Nishan; Moore, Mick; Devarajan, Shanta; Rajkulendran, Raj Prabu; Siyambalapitiya, Sumini (Colombo: Verite Research, 2022-06)

The note estimates the additional revenue that can be collected from reinstating in Sri Lanka two methods of efficient tax collection that were discontinued in 2020. That is: the withholding tax (WHT) and the pay-as-you-earn ...

Civil Society Governance Diagnostic Report on Sri Lanka: An Assessment of the Anti-Corruption Landscape of Sri Lanka

Parakrama, Arjuna (Colombo: Transparency International Sri Lanka, 2023)

This Civil Society Governance Diagnostic Report on the Anti-Corruption Landscape of Sri Lanka (Report), prepared on the basis of extensive local consultation over a two-month period with a range of community and sectoral ...

IMF Tracker Update: December 2023

Econ Team (2024-01)

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has published its evaluation of Sri Lanka’s performance in the first phase or ‘first term’ of the ongoing Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme, which commenced in March 2023. Verité ...

Syndicated Surveys: Taxing EPF Returns (October 2023)

Econ Team (2023-11)

77% of Sri Lankan adults think that the government’s decision to reduce returns on the retirement savings in the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), in the pursuit of domestic debt restructuring (DDR), was not necessary and/or ...

Syndicated Surveys: Easter Sunday Attacks (October 2023)

Econ Team (2023-11)

More than half the Sri Lankan population – 53% – believes local political forces were involved in the Easter Sunday attacks carried out in 2019, according to a survey commissioned in October by Syndicated Surveys. 53% ...

Syndicated Surveys: Online Safety Bill (October 2023)

Econ Team (2023-10)

In a survey commissioned by Verité Research, 56% of those who said they knew about the Online Safety Bill also said it will reduce the freedom of using social media. To the question ‘the government introduced a bill to ...

Will the budget's veil of secrecy be lifted in 2024?

Econ Team (Colombo: Verite Research, 2023-11-01)

The lack of transparency on the implementation progress of proposals in budget speeches has increased sharply in 2022 and 2023, according to a systematic evaluation conducted by Verité Research. The government – on ...

Sri Lanka's best kept secret

Econ Team (Colombo: Verite Research, 2023-11-01)

The lack of fiscal transparency is a key factor that contributed to the present crisis and loss of credibility of the government, both at home and abroad. Several commitments made by the government in its agreement with ...

Where's the promised land?

Econ Team (Colombo: Verite Research, 2023-11-01)

Land access has been identified as a crucial barrier which inhibits foreign direct investment (FDI) in Sri Lanka. Investment zones, primarily Export Processing Zones (EPZs), are significantly influential in attracting FDI ...

Public Debt Increases in Dollar Value While Decreasing in Rupee Value

Public Finance Infographics;
Econ Team (Colombo: Verite Research, 2023-12-19)

According to recent data published by the Ministry of Finance, public debt in dollar terms fell from USD 97 Bn (end 2021) to USD 85 Bn (end 2022), however rose again to USD 91 Bn by September 2023. The debt stock in ...

Sri Lanka met 41 IMF commitments and failed 11 by end-Oct

Public Finance Infographics;
Econ Team (Colombo: Verite Research, 2023-11-17)

Sri Lanka verifiably met 41 of the 73 trackable commitments that were due for completion by end-October 2023 in its ongoing programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to the latest update from ‘IMF ...