Browsing VR Insights (issues) by Author "Econ Team"

Now showing items 1-20 of 21

    • Are Sri Lanka’s exports to India overdependent on concessions? 

      VR Insights;
      Econ Team       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2016-05-26)
      Sri Lanka’s exports as a share of GDP has declined from 33% in 2000 to 13% in 2015. One of the solutions has been to diversify Sri Lanka’s markets. This is because over 50% of Sri Lanka’s exports go to the EU and the United ...

    • The Budget Is Not Mainly About Money, It’s About Governance 

      Verité Insights;
      Econ Team       (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. ...

    • Can the Singapore Chinthanaya work for Sri Lanka? 

      Verité Insights;
      Econ Team       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2013-10)
      Singapore is a classic example of an Asian country that avoided the middle-income trap, and it has often been sighted as a model for Sri Lanka. This article substantiates the claim that there is neither a theoretical nor ...

    • Cigarette Taxes Need Parliament’s Oversight 

      VR Insights;
      Econ Team       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2016-06-02)
      Every year, on the 31st of May, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and partners mark World No Tobacco Day. This day is set apart to highlight the health risks associated with tobacco use and to advocate for effective ...

    • Economic mismanagement is a governance problem – it needs governance solutions 

      VR Insights;
      Econ Team       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2016-05-11)
      Elected officials and selected bureaucrats are given a huge amount of power to act on behalf of the public – modern democracies function on this basis: that citizens hand over their power to elected representatives. But ...

    • The Economics of Media Freedom: is Sri Lanka on a virtuous or vicious cycle? 

      Verité Insights;
      Econ Team       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2013-10)
      This article explains the economic importance of media freedom by considering three reasons: i) indicative reasons; ii) instrumental reasons; and iii) integral reasons. Media freedom is indicatively important because it ...

    • Exchange rate management: politics trumps professionalism 

      VR Insights;
      Econ Team       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2016-01-26)
      Most people in a country don’t understand the intricacies of exchange rate management. Nevertheless, actions in this regard have significant implications for the economic stability, growth and overall success of the economy, ...

    • 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 ...

    • 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 ...

    • 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 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 ...

    • 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 ...

    • Sri Lanka’s international borrowing costs are not declining 

      VR Insights;Vol. 2, No. 19
      Econ Team       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2014-11)
      The government first raised international debt through bonds in October 2007. Since then several international bonds have been issued to feed the government’s twin demands: financing its spending and propping up foreign ...

    • Sri Lanka’s tea industry – too long in adolescence, it’s time to grow up 

      VR Insights;
      Econ Team       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2016-02-26)
      Tea sector wage negotiations periodically go into deadlock. There are political reasons for this situation, but also an overarching economic one: global tea prices have declined – as it periodically happens – and the ...

    • TAs with India and China: Potential for Sri Lanka 

      Verité Insights;
      Econ Team       (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 ...

    • The Tea Industry: A New Sustainability Approach 

      VR Insights;
      Econ Team       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2013-06-09)
      What do unions do? In a landmark title by this name (1984), Harvard University economists Richard Freeman and James Medoff demonstrated that labour unions have two faces. One is confrontational and the other is cooperative. ...

    • Trade in Services: Sri Lanka needs to pull up its socks 

      VR Insights;
      Econ Team       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2016-03-09)
      Two previous Verité Insights titled “Sri Lanka missing world’s biggest trade party and its in her backyard” & “Trade Agreements that don’t deliver the goods” published in May and June 2013 pointed out that Sri Lanka is ...

    • Trade in Services: Unearthing the devil in the details 

      VR Insights;
      Econ Team       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2016-04-06)
      In 2016, Sri Lanka began its first round of negotiations on an Economic and Technological Cooperation Agreement (ECTA) with India. This envisages liberalising trade in services. The lack of information on what was being ...

    • Trademark Registration: From Colombo to Madrid 

      VR Insights;
      Econ Team       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2016-11-30)
      The Madrid Protocol is a global mechanism for registering trademarks outside one’s home country. It reduces the time, inconvenience and cost incurred by companies attempting to ensure international recognition and protection ...