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VR Insights (issues) [80]
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Proposed Beneficial Ownership Register : Two Gaps Undermine Effectiveness
(Colombo: Verité Research, 2025-03)In 2024, Sri Lanka proposed an amendment to the Companies Act introducing a Beneficial Ownership register. The proposed register fails to meet International Monetary Fund and Financial Action Task Force commitments in two ... -
13% primary expenditure rule proposed for Sri Lanka departs from economic theory and practice
(Colombo: Verité Research, 2024-07)The 13% primary expenditure rule proposed in a new public finance bill is at odds with established economic theory. It will undermine “good” public spending that enhances growth, efficiency, and social welfare. It will also ... -
Is it safe to breathe in Sri Lanka : the case for data
(Colombo: Verité Research, 2022-11)Exposure to poor air quality is ranked among the top 10 leading global risk factors for disease. The lack of visibility of air pollution often results in delay in public policy and personal responses, till the problem is ... -
Privatisation of Public Data: Sri Lanka Customs as a Case in Point = “පොදු දත්ත” පුද්ගලීකරණය කිරීම: ශ්රී ලංකා රේගුව උදාහරණයක් ලෙස
(Colombo: Verité Research, 2021-04)International trade data is a public good. Access to such data is vital to design evidence-based policies, help businesses make better decisions, induce public research on economic and social issues, and improve accountability ... -
Ceylon Petroleum Corporation : What Drives the Losses?
(Colombo: Verité Research, 2021-09)Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) is the state-owned enterprise in Sri Lanka with the largest accumulated losses – estimated at LKR 335 billion as of 2020. The insight finds that the CPC sells fuel at prices higher than ... -
Stealth Reduction of Cigarette Tax Rates
(Colombo: Verité Research, 2025-01)The tax-in-price for cigarettes in Sri Lanka has reduced dramatically since 2020, falling below both the international benchmark of 75% and past norms in Sri Lanka. It fell to 68.8% for the most sold brand (MSB) and 69.9% ... -
Retirement Funds Face Regressive Taxation in Sri Lanka
(Colombo: Verité Research, 2023-09)In September 2023, Sri Lanka became the only country to restructure local currency debt by exclusively targeting retirement savings funds, excluding all others. This was justified by claiming that retirement savings were ... -
Does Sri Lanka Need More Rules or Better Compliance?
(Colombo: Verité Research, 2023-02)The government of Sri Lanka proposed introducing a new law to establish stronger rules on public finance management. The analysis shows that the core weakness in Sri Lanka is not the lack of rules but the lack of compliance. ... -
Any president can contest a third term – if 18A is valid
(Colombo: Verité Research, 2014-11)This INSIGHT discusses the eligibility of twice-elected Sri Lankan presidents to contest a third term. It demonstrates that the textual arguments claiming to disqualify such presidents are mistaken: first, because an ... -
De-mystifying Increase in Sri Lanka’s Debt
(Verité Research, 2022-02)In the last 70 years, Sri Lanka has never been in a more precarious position with regard to the repayment of its debt, than at present, in December 2021. There is much that is said in the media about the increase in Sri ... -
Organic Fertiliser Transition in Sri Lanka: Farmers Were Providing an Early Warning of a Food Shortage = ශ්රී ලංකාව කාබනික පොහොර වෙතට මාරු වීමට දැරූ ප්රයත්නය: ගොවීන්ගෙන් ආහාර හිඟයක් පිළිබඳ පූර්ව අනතුරු ඇඟවීමක්
(Verité Research, 2021-09)Sri Lanka introduced a ban on chemical fertiliser importation, and a shift to organic fertiliser starting April 2021. As existing stocks were beginning to deplete Verité Research conducted a survey in July to capture the ... -
Tourism Could Not Have Solved Sri Lanka’s Foreign Exchange Crisis
(Colombo: Verité Research, 2021-09)A key debate during Sri Lanka’s economic crisis is whether the current dollar shortage is a short-term liquidity problem or a more protracted and systemic issue that requires debt reduction. This insight responds to the ... -
Cigarette Taxation Formula - The Cost of Forgetting = දුම්වැටි බදු අයකිරීමේ සූත්රය අමතක වීමේ පිරිවැය
(Colombo: Verité Research, 2022-05)In 2019 the government took a step in the right direction by introducing an indexation policy where taxes on cigarettes was proposed to be adjusted in line with GDP and inflation. Previous insights show that the foregone ... -
Is Blocking Websites Making Sri Lankan Telecom Share Prices Vulnerable?
(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 ... -
TAs with India and China: Potential for Sri Lanka
(Colombo: Verité Research, 2014-04)Sri Lanka has various levels of trade agreements (TAs) with both India and China. A new TA with China was mooted in 2014 and the appetite for that continues in the new presidency and policy context of 2015. While statistics ... -
Improving Sri Lanka’s Business Environment: It’s not so difficult
(Colombo: Verité Research, 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 ... -
The Exporting Problem of SMEs: Finance is one solution
(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 ... -
The Budget Is Not Mainly About Money, It’s About Governance
(Colombo: Verité Research, 2015-10)Budgeting is a governance process that drives national plans, priorities and policy. While much of that is reflected in the content of the budget, important governance aspects are also reflected in the budgeting process. ... -
Cigarette Tax Indexation, Getting It Right and Getting It Wrong
(2019-08)The article tackles the cigarette tax indexation policy introduced with Sri Lanka’s 2019 Budget: where annual increases to the cigarette excise tax (a tax exclusive to cigarettes) will be based on inflation and income ... -
Flawed rationale behind EPF re-entering the stock market = කොටස් වෙළඳපොලට සේවක අර්ථසාධක අරමුදල (සේ.අ.අ.) නැවත ඇතුල්වීම පිටුපස ඇති සාවද්ය තර්කය
(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 ...
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