Browsing VR Insights (issues) by Title

Now showing items 1-20 of 73

    • Any president can contest a third term – if 18A is valid 

      VR Insights;Vol. 2, No. 18 - November 2014
      de Mel, Nishan; Gunatilleke, Gehan       (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 ...

    • 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 ...

    • Central Bank’s 30 year Bond Debacle: What is the “Loss”? 

      VR Insights;Vol. 3, No. 13
      de Mel, Nishan       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2015-07)
      In February 2015 the Central Bank of Sri Lanka called an auction for one billion rupees on a 30 year bond. It then accepted 10 fold – 10 billion rupees – after the bids were in. This Insight identifies three errors in the ...

    • ‘Cess’ – End the Deception and Build ‘Street Lights’ 

      Verité Insights;
      Verité Research       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2013-11-27)
      In Sri Lanka, ‘Cess’ is the name given to a special tax imposed on sales, where the revenue is earmarked for a specific fund with a particular economic purpose. This article discusses how the government has stymied export ...

    • Ceylon Petroleum Corporation: What drives the losses? 

      Verite Insights;Vol 9, No 06.
      Anushan, Kapilan; Deshal, de Mel       (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 analysis finds that the CPC sells fuel at prices higher ...

    • Cigarette Tax Indexation, Getting It Right and Getting It Wrong 

      Verité Insights;Vol. 4, No. 1
      de Mel, Nishan; Guruge, Aneesha       (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 ...

    • Cigarette Taxation Formula - The Cost of Forgetting 

      Verité Insights;Vol. 10, No. 02
      Perera, Ashvin; Haniffa, Hafsa       (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 ...

    • Cigarette Taxation: 20 Billion Extra Revenue in 2020, if Indexation Is Implemented = දර්ශකයකට අනුව දුම්වැටි බදු අය කරන්නට කටයුතු කලොත්, 2020දී, රජයට රුපියල් බිලියන 20ක අමතර ආදායමක් 

      Verité Insights;Vol 8, No. 2
      Atapattu, Udahiruni; de Mel, Nishan; Munas, Hasna       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2020-06-01)
      The government could raise an extra Rs. 20 Billion from cigarette taxation in 2020 from the proper implementation of the indexation policy articulated in the 2019 Budget and rational calibration of taxes for all cigarette ...

    • 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 ...

    • De-mystifying Increase in Sri Lanka’s Debt 

      Verite Insights;Vol 10, No 01.
      Arangala, Mathisha; Musammil, Miflal; Rajakulendran, Raj Prabu       (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 ...

    • Does Sri Lanka Need More Rules or Better Compliance? 

      Verite Insights;Vol. 04, No.01
      Rajkulendran, Raj Prabu       (Colombo: Verite 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. ...

    • 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 ...

    • Economic Reforms Cannot Ignore Sri Lanka’s Farmers 

      Verité Insights;
      Verité Research       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2015-06-24)
      Historically and culturally Sri Lankan society idealises its farmer. Advertisements even for the recent 2015 presidential elections were replete with images of farms and farming communities. But economic policies and reforms ...

    • 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 ...

    • Economics of the broken window is applicable to corruption 

      Verité Insights;
      Verité Research       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2015-03-04)
      The Sirisena presidency and the UNP that championed it have been endorsed by the ballot with the hope that they will take action against the rampant corruption that was felt to be hurting the public welfare under the ...

    • The Economy is Growing, but Where are the Jobs? 

      Verité Insights;
      Verité Research       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2013-06-26)
      The Sri Lankan economy is reported to have grown by 6.4 percent in 2012. This was less than what was hoped, but still a robust level of growth. In 2010 and 2011 growth was an extremely healthy 8 percent and 8.2 percent. ...

    • Education and Health in Budget 2016: Grand promises don’t bode well for governance 

      Verité Insights;
      Verité Research       (Colombo: Verité Research, 2015-11-24)
      Governments make attractive promises when presenting the Budget. However, successive Budgets have shown that making promises is easier than keeping them. The extent to which the present government will be able to keep its ...

    • 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, ...