Sugath Kulatunga Thursday, November 7, 2024, ECONOMYNEXT reports that – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank signed an agreement to obtain and exchange information on investigations and prosecutions of Money Laundering (ML), Terrorist Financing (TF) and related crimes in Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) and of any persons connected with such bodies. The Central Bank’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) […]

Sugath Kulatunga The former President, RW, placed four-time bombs on the political battlefield before he left. These are the Rs 25,000 salary increase to the public service, the connectivity with India, to commence repayment of foreign debts by 2028, and the full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. The salary bomb with a […]

Sugath Kulatunga Many political pundits claim that Aragalaya was the genesis of the present radical political transformation. This assertion denies credit to the NPP for their crusade at the grassroots level over a long period, educating the masses about the misdemeanors and inefficiency of the past governments. NPP also established dedicated cadres with the masses […]

Sugath Kulatunga Sunday Times of October 06, 2024 reports that the Govt. will carry on with Ranil’s Urumaya project. The report adds that the Land Commissioner has said President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, has instructed that land distribution should continue. I only hope that this report is not correct. In November last year, I wrote on […]

Sugath Kulatunga The Government is due to have discussions with the IMF team which is now in the Island and later with the IMF management in Washington. This note is to emphasise that Sri Lanka is bound only by the Letter of Intent signed by the President and the Governor of the Central Bank. It […]

Sugath Kulatunga The 2024 Presidential election has spawned 39 candidates and at least 6 elaborate political manifestos. In the previous elections where the contest was mainly between candidates the manifestos were in essay form. But the current manifestos have followed the format of Project Justification presenting a vision, objectives, strategies and action plan, sometimes under […]

Sugath Kulatunga The President RW and the leader of the opposition in their political manifestos are making extravagant promises to the people to come into power. So do the other Presidential candidates who have not so far tasted power. We cannot judge them on performance while RW and Sajith could be judged on their past […]

Sugath Kulatunga Debt on ISBs continues to be the bugbear in the economy. It is on record that the Yahapalanaya regime borrowed on ISBs 12.4 billion US dollars at high rates of interest. The financial wizards of yahapalnaya claims that these high cost funds were used to settle loans taken by the Manida government. Accoding […]

Sugath Kulatunga The attention of readers with national interst is invted to the article on LBN by Dr.Sudath Gunasekera on the very important issue of the proposal to establish mono-ehnic villages in the Plantation sector. Relevant excerpts of the report are produced below. What is worse is that while this Government treats the natives in […]

Sugath Kulatunga It is pathetic to see a majority of SLPP MPs under the delusion that President RW has performed a miracle in saving this country from the economic debacle it faced and he is the only one who can continue the recovery.  What he has done is nothing but accepting the dictates of the […]

Sugath Kulatunga On the 18 th of December 18- 2022, I wrote on LBN that President Ranil Wickremesinghe was attempting to Grow More Food by statute. The President proposed to bring in new laws to ensure food security. It never happened and we are still importing eggs from India. I emphasized that what we should […]

Sugath Kulatunga Education system in Sri Lanka has not kept abreast with the needs of the country and the developments in the fast-developing countries in the rest of the world. Countries like South Korea and Taiwan revamped their education systems around1980 to meet the demands of their economies. We have not even taken notice of […]

Sugath Kulatunga Director General EDB 1979 to 1987 It is very encouraging that all political leaders are today admitting that the only way to resolve the economic crisis is to increase exports. It is a national tragedy that the same politicians did not actively support the export drive launched by the Export Development Board (EDB) […]

Sugath Kulatunga  I agree totally with my Senior colleague at Arunachalam Hall who on 24 February pointed out on the LBN the dangers of unbridled power enjoyed and abused by the Central Bank (CBSL). They relished this privilege even before the recent IMF inspired independence. It was the mandarins of the CBSL who controlled both […]

Sugath Kulatunga I am fortunate that I started my career in the public service in the Department of Agriculture the major government department most close to the lives of the ordinary people. Following the example of my colleague Garvin Karunaratne I wish to relate my experience in the Department, pointing out the difference in the […]

Sugath Kulatunga I have recently had a disappointing experience with my former department of Agriculture. Being aware of the acute protein malnutrition among our children and having read about the use of dried and powdered murunga leaves (which is around 25 % protein) as a protein supplement in the food of children in India. Murunga […]

 Sugath Kulatunga In spite of the bankruptcy of country and the accumulated external debt of 36 billion dollars at the end of 2023, the Governor of the Central Bank has the chutzpa to announce that foreign exchange (FE) can now be released to import vehicles. He has qualified this by stating that this has to […]

Sugath Kulatunga The present divestiture drive is ostensibly aimed at minimizing govt. expenditure on loss-making state owned enterprises and meeting certain IMF conditions. The ex-President should be applaude for taking firm stand on this burning issue. It would have been more welcomed if the policy of the SLPP was declared much earlier before the SOE […]

Sugath Kulatunga Founder Director General of the EDB I am delighted to see both the President RW and the leader of the opposition claiming that the only way to tackle the economic problems in the country and to develop the country is to make it export oriented. This message has become a manthra and is […]

Sugath Kulatunga Our Parliament is again beating the dead horse of the Easter bombings when the people are beating their breasts on the travails of living. The debate is all about a  Brains (the Maha Mola Karr- MMK) behind the horrible deed. What was his objective? Was it an evil political strategy to gain the […]

Sugath Kulatunga A strident cry we hear now from goverment politicians and economic pundits is that State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) must be privatized to make them efficient and profitable and ease the burden of losses to the state. Majority of them think that a wave of the majic wand of privatization will turn the white elephants to cash cows. Historically in Sri Lanka, SOEs have made a significant contribution to industrial development, […]

Sugath Kulatunga It is gratifying to note our President and a leading politician Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) making emphatic and unequivocal statements on two vital policy issues. Present stated repeatedly that the country has to convert itself into an export economy to be a developed nation by 1948. He was in the JR government when […]

Sugath Kulatunga The ripple effect of the increase in the VAT rate from 15 to 18 percent has led to another hike in the cost of living causing wide spread agitation against the measure and has rattled the government. It has given another opportunity to traders to inflict one more exorbitant hike in the price […]

Sugath Kulatunga In our democracy the People can use the power of franchise in selecting a government only once in 5 years unless the Parliament is dissolved earlier. In between elections the voice of the People is muted. This makes them to resort to enraged demonstrations and Aragalayas. The government also takes decisions on conjecture. […]

Sugath Kulatunga Business Times of December 03, 2023, published a relevant article by Agri experts pointing out that the Ad hoc ban on oil palm deters foreign exchange savings. One was under the impression that Minister Amaraweera had instructed the CEA to conduct further formal research on palm oil cultivation. The knee-jerk ban on Oil […]

Sugath Kulatunga The controversy on the activities of the Sri Lanka Cricket Board (SLBDC) has gone viral. It is one issue which has involved all three pillars of the government, the executive, legislature and the judiciary. It has brought the warring political parties on common cause of saving the game of cricket. However, one aspect […]

Sugath Kulatunga In his budget speech 2024 President RW waxed eloquent on his proposal to give legal ownership of land to 2 million families who are now owning them under a license system. He has tried to give the proposal an undeserving anti-colonial nationalist flavor by referring to this land as lands acquired by the […]

Sugath Kulatunga Even the United Nations is obliged to respect the sovereignty of member nations and refrains from intervening in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction. However, this principle is not respected by the ICC which has considered that action taken under the Sports Law of Sri Lanka is political interference. Suspension of […]

Sugath Kulatunga The recent increase of VAT from 12 to 18 percent has become the target of severe criticism by the opposition particularly by the political economists and of course the leader of the opposition. The main plank of the criticism is that it will increase inflation and the cost of living and will be […]

Sugath Kulatunga. Cricket has today become virtually the national game of Sri Lanka. It is played in different forms of hard ball to soft ball games in the urban playgrounds and in the village fields. It is watched and enjoyed by spectators of all ages and means. The brilliant performance of our women’s team has […]