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The 2026 budget is a clearly IMF-dictated budget, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa said yesterday.

“It looks like President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has read out a budget which has been written by the IMF,” Mr. Premadasa told media.

“The budget has confirmed that the government does not have the ability to alleviate poverty. It does not have the ability to resolve the issues faced by the farmers, fisherfolk and the unemployed graduates. It is unable to help the small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which contribute to the GDP growth of the country,” he said.

“The government has failed to fulfil the pledges it made during the elections,” Mr. Premadasa added.

He said the budget 2026 is aimed at continuing the government’s effort to deceive people. “This government seemed to be heartless,” he said.

(Source - Dailymirror)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer confined to science fiction—it is reshaping industries, driving innovation, and redefining growth. The SLASSCOM AI Asia Summit 2025, themed “AI in Action”, to be held on 12 November at the Cinnamon Grand, Colombo, will spotlight how AI is creating measurable transformation across sectors and how Sri Lanka can position itself as a hub for responsible, scalable AI innovation.

From vision to measurable impact

 SLASSCOM Board Director Arjuna Sirinanda said the Summit’s theme reflects a clear shift from experimentation to execution. “This is not just about concepts it’s about measurable impact,” he emphasized. The event will showcase real-world AI applications in finance, manufacturing, and services, highlighting how Sri Lankan firms are already embedding AI into their business processes. “What makes this summit unique is its focus on collaboration—bringing together innovators, policymakers, and industry leaders to turn Sri Lanka’s AI potential into tangible economic value,” he added.

Echoing similar sentiments, SLASSCOM Tech Forum Lead Dhaminda Siriwardena noted that the Summit provides an ideal platform for companies to see how AI is moving from theory to action. “This marks a shift from exploration to execution. Our focus on ethics, governance, and human-centered innovation ensures AI is used responsibly while driving sustainable business growth,” he said.

Positioning Sri Lanka as a trusted AI hub

SLASSCOM Chairperson Shehani Seneviratne said Sri Lanka is strategically poised to emerge as a regional leader in AI innovation. “The South Asian region has the creativity, skills, and infrastructure to lead in responsible, scalable AI. With strong technical foundations and a growing startup ecosystem, we can develop globally competitive AI solutions that are both ethical and impactful,” she noted.

Seneviratne stressed the importance of collaboration between academia, industry, and government to accelerate AI-driven innovation. Citing Sri Lanka’s Digital Economy Strategy and the national goal of reaching US$5 billion in tech exports by 2030, she said continued investment in skills, data infrastructure, and research is vital to turn global knowledge into local innovation.

Preparing businesses for AI integration

Commenting on how local enterprises can ready themselves for AI transformation, Seneviratne said, “Building digital maturity is essential. Companies must invest in robust data systems and equip teams to use AI strategically.” She added that the Summit will help businesses learn from global best practices, form new partnerships, and ensure that AI adoption is both practical and sustainable. “By combining internal readiness with external collaboration, organisations can align AI initiatives with long-term goals,” she stated.

The AI Asia Summit 2025 will feature a stellar lineup of speakers, including Dr. Radheeka Jayasundera Abeyweera (John Keells Group), Dr. Rukshan Batuwita (Google), Dr. Subha Fernando (University of Moratuwa), Oshada Senanayake (Brandix), and Hasith Yaggahavita (99X Technology), among others.

With Sri Lanka’s rising digital momentum and emerging AI talent, the AI Asia Summit 2025 offers a timely platform to align with global trends, strengthen collaboration, and accelerate the nation’s journey toward becoming a regional leader in responsible AI innovation.

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President Anura Kumara Dissanayake says several concessions will be granted to establish artificial intelligence (AI) data centres in Sri Lanka. 

The President noted that the government will grant relief to companies to set-up AI data centres in the country, considering the importance it will play in the modern world.   

President Dissanayake also pledged to grant a five-year tax concession to build digital communication towers

(Source - Adaderana.lk)

Sales of Ceylon tea in Sri Lanka recorded a month-on-month dip in October, even though year-on-year figures showed a slight uptick, according to broker Forbes & Walker Ltd.. The National Sales Average (NSA) for October fell by Rs. 14.48 to Rs. 1,177.14 per kg (US$3.87), down from September’s Rs. 1,191.62 (US$3.94). Compared with October 2024, when the average was Rs. 1,172.15 (US$3.99), the October 2025 figure is modestly higher by Rs. 4.99 and US$0.12.

Breaking down by elevation, High Grown tea prices fell by Rs. 8.57 and US$0.05 month-on-month, but rose by Rs. 19.48 compared with October last year (though US$-0.07). Medium Grown tea recorded a month-on-month increase of Rs. 3.43 (US$-0.01) and a year-on-year gain of Rs. 13.06 (US$-0.08). In contrast, Low Grown tea logged a decline of Rs. 19.66 (US$-0.09) month-on-month and Rs. 1.11 (US$-0.15) year-on-year.

Despite the month’s mixed performance, the year-to-date NSA stands at Rs. 1,161.99 (US$3.87), down by Rs. 74.93 (US$0.21) compared with the same period last year when it averaged Rs. 1,236.92 (US$4.08). Meanwhile, export earnings have shown strength: September tea exports rose 17 % to US$137 million, and cumulative earnings for the first nine months hit US$1.16 billionup 9.8 % year-on-year according to Sri Lanka Export Development Board data.

These figures arrive against a backdrop of both potential and pressure in Sri Lanka’s tea sector. The island produces tea year-round and directly or indirectly supports nearly one million people, covering around 4 % of the land area in plantation estates. Sri Lanka Business+1 Production for the first nine months of 2025 stood at 199.09 million kgup 2.22 million kg from the same period in 2024. Tea Exporters Association

Yet, remaining competitive is a challenge. Rising labour costs, fertiliser and fuel inflation are squeezing margins, and the industry is contending with ageing tea bushes and low replanting rates, which have dampened output growth and increased costs. Tea Exporters Association+1 In addition, the sector is pursuing a geographical indication (GI) registration for “Ceylon Tea” and adopting sustainability standards as part of a global positioning strategy. worldteanews.com

Beyond averages and production volumes, analysts point to shifting global demand patterns: premium tea segments are growing, “grab-and-go” and ready-to-drink formats rising, and new markets opening up. Sri Lanka’s strength as a producer of orthodox (leaf) tea remains a key differentiator even as competition intensifies. Tea Exporters Association

In summary, although October brought a modest monthly decline in tea sales averages, year-on-year performance and export earnings point to resilience in the sector. The challenge for Sri Lanka now lies in balancing cost pressures, modernising estate operations, capturing higher-value segments, and protecting the global brand equity of Ceylon tea. As the world evolves, Sri Lanka’s tea industry must adapt quickly to maintain its place and value in the global marketplace.

Sri Lanka’s long-dormant Public–Private Partnership (PPP) programme is once again under the spotlight, with the newly reactivated National Agency for Public–Private Partnerships (NAPP) claiming that 67 projects are currently in the pipeline across power, ports, urban development, and transport. However, an investigative review reveals that the new administration’s claims of revival rest largely on work initiated by the previous government in 2024.

At a recent forum co-hosted by the Indian High Commission and the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, NAPP Chief Executive Sulakshana Jayawardena announced that a long-awaited PPP law designed to provide Sri Lanka’s partnership framework with a proper legal foundation—is now with the Legal Draftsman’s Department. After incorporating feedback from the Chamber and other stakeholders, it is awaiting Attorney General’s approval before being presented to Parliament.

Jayawardena said the agency has conducted multiple awareness programmes for key state entities such as the Urban Development Authority, Water Board, and Ceylon Electricity Board, to build institutional readiness for future PPPs.

While the new government portrays these developments as fresh initiatives, Cabinet records and prior media reports indicate that the PPP Bill and the proposal to establish NAPP were both approved by the previous government in July 2024. The drafting of the law began months before the change of administration, and the Legal Draftsman’s office had already started work on the bill at that time.

Since assuming office a year ago, the current administration has essentially continued and refined this groundwork rather than starting anew. It can therefore claim credit for sustaining the process and moving the draft toward legislative completion but not for originating or drafting the law itself.

Sri Lanka’s PPP framework has a chequered past. The first wave of PPPs in the 1990s attracted more than US $2 billion in private investment, mainly in power and telecoms, but momentum faded after the original PPP unit under the Board of Investment was disbanded in the mid-2000s. The absence of a dedicated law and institutional continuity led to project delays and governance gaps, leaving most recent PPPs limited to the energy sector.

The new NAPP thus inherits a mixed legacy. With 67 projects under review, officials promise better oversight and cross-sectoral diversification. Yet, analysts warn that without a clear legal framework, transparent tendering, and policy stability, Sri Lanka risks repeating earlier failures.For now, the rebranded agency signals intent, not transformation. The PPP law’s true test will come when it moves beyond drafting tables and proves that this revival is more than a recycled promise under a new name.

Sri Lanka’s 2026 budget, tabled on November 7, presents itself as a stitch-work of fiscal discipline and political caution: headline targets   a 2.3% primary surplus and government revenue nudged toward roughly 15–15.3% of GDP are presented as the pathway back to stability after the 2022 meltdown. 

Yet beneath the policy slogans lies a package that shifts burdens onto a fragile private sector, tightens enforcement, and relies heavily on optimistic growth and debt-restructuring assumptions. 

The arithmetic is stark. The government projects total expenditure of roughly Rs. 4,434 billion and caps new borrowing near Rs. 3,800 billion numbers that constrain fiscal space while forcing revenue measures to do much of the heavy lifting.

 If revenue targets fail to materialize, the deficit and debt trajectory will reassert themselves quickly, exposing the limits of the plan. 

Tax policy changes in the bill are surgical rather than sweeping but surgical cuts can still be painful. 

The VAT registration threshold is being lowered from Rs. 60 million to Rs. 36 million, widening the tax net and bringing many small and medium enterprises under formal VAT compliance. 

Officials argue this will boost collections and close leakages through e-invoicing and point-of-sale reporting a digital clampdown on informal turnover. But small businesses, already squeezed by higher input costs and weak demand, face compliance costs and cash-flow shocks that could suppress employment and investment. 

The government also outlines accelerated digital tax enforcement: mandatory e-invoicing via POS systems and real-time reporting. That is necessary to curb evasion, but successful implementation will require training, affordable hardware, and credible taxpayer support  all easy to promise, hard to deliver at scale. 

External scrutiny is intense. The budget is explicitly calibrated to meet IMF program parameters and unlock donor confidence; officials say debt restructuring milestones are nearing completion and that growth will recover. 

But rating agencies and independent analysts warn that fiscal consolidation may slow if growth disappoints or if social spending needs rise  a reminder that the plan’s success depends less on headline targets and more on execution under adverse shocks. 

In short: the 2026 budget is a narrowing corridor between conditional stability and renewed vulnerability. It bets on better tax collection, digital enforcement and investor confidence practical steps, but ones that transfer risk to small businesses and require flawless administration. Without stronger near-term growth or contingency buffers, the budget could tighten austerity into stagnation and that is the true story missing from the numbers on the front page.

In a significant departure from their traditional wage-centered approach, a coalition of 13 independent labour unions affiliated with the National Labour Advisory Council has jointly submitted a comprehensive policy-based proposal for the upcoming 2026 National Budget, focusing on structural labour reforms instead of monetary demands.

The proposals were handed over to the Government on 13 October, ahead of the Budget presentation in Parliament this Friday by President and Finance Minister Anura Kumara Dissanayake. This marks the first time in recent decades that multiple unions have collaborated to shape the national fiscal agenda through a labour policy lens.

At a press briefing in Colombo, Ceylon Bank Employees’ Union (CBEU) Deputy Chairman Anupa Nandula revealed that the unions were invited for a meeting with the President, but it was later cancelled without further communication. “We’d like to believe that the Government understands our intentions our proposals don’t call for handouts but for sustainable labour and economic policy,” he said.

Chamindra Perera, General Secretary of the Ceylon Federation of Trade Unions, emphasised that the unions’ collective effort was historic. “Our approach this year moves beyond salary increments. We focused purely on policy changes that strengthen the position of workers within ongoing economic reforms,” he explained.

According to JSS Convenor Sunil de Silva, public expectations for relief remain high amid cost-of-living pressures caused by fiscal reforms. “While people expect benefits, the Government must now set out a long-term labour policy to protect worker rights and ensure fair treatment,” he said, adding that separate laws for zones like the Colombo Port City or attempts to privatise essential public services would erode labour equity.

A key highlight of the proposals is the call to restructure, not privatise, State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) such as State banks, the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, Sri Lanka Telecom, and the Ceylon Electricity Board. The unions argue that reform is necessary but must preserve public ownership to safeguard the institutions’ founding purpose of serving citizens rather than profit motives.

Among the 18 major recommendations, the unions have urged the Government to:

• Implement the long-delayed Workers’ Charter first drafted in the 1990s.
• Reform the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) for transparency while retaining Central Bank oversight.
• Conduct forensic audits of major SOEs to improve accountability and efficiency.
• Establish ILO Convention Monitoring Centres to ensure compliance with international labour standards.
• Extend social protection to informal, gig, and care workers through a welfare fund financed by a Rs. 1 levy per digital transaction.
• Introduce a contributory unemployment benefit scheme for private sector employees.

The proposals also include measures to uplift the estate sector, calling for fair wages, 10 perches of land for each worker family, and the conversion of the National Institute of Plantation Management into a degree-awarding university. The unions also urged the settlement of outstanding provident fund dues to plantation employees and the consolidation of loss-making plantation companies under a single state entity.

Furthermore, the coalition advocated for progressive taxation to replace regressive levies that burden low-income earners such as those on sanitary products and electricity in free trade zones while demanding stricter controls to curb illicit financial flows.

Nandula stressed that these initiatives are not fiscally heavy but aimed at reinforcing fairness and institutional stability. “Our proposals do not add cost to the Treasury. They simply require political will and administrative commitment,” he said.

If adopted, these policy-driven recommendations could mark a pivotal shift in Sri Lanka’s labour relations transforming the annual Budget from a cycle of wage demands into a platform for sustainable social and economic reform.

Once envisioned as a vital link between the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) and the global maritime industry, a semi-state company jointly owned by the SLPA (40%) and the Ceylon Shipping Corporation (15%) has now become a financial burden on the national economy. 

Established to elevate the quality of port services to international standards, the company’s steady decline in profitability, operational inefficiency, and poor financial discipline have turned it into a defunct enterprise struggling for relevance.

The company was initially tasked with a wide range of functions from controlling port transportation and managing cargo handling to administering employment agencies, managing Galle Face Green, and recruiting Sri Lankan seafarers for international employment. Despite these strategic responsibilities, its financial performance in 2023 paints a grim picture of mismanagement and stagnation.

According to audited data, the company’s total income for 2023 amounted to Rs. 145.66 million, against an expenditure of Rs. 143.24 million, leaving a meagre profit of Rs. 2.4 million a sharp drop from Rs. 7.1 million in the previous year. The 3% decline in income reflects operational inefficiencies and a lack of strategic direction, raising serious questions about its economic viability.

The financial setbacks have not been limited to reduced profits. In a glaring example of mismanagement, the company entered into an agreement in 2014 with Tangyo Haulage (Pvt) Ltd to obtain carrier vehicles. Its subsequent failure to meet payment obligations led to a court-ordered compensation of Rs. 28.9 million in 2017, draining valuable public funds. This legal debacle remains a testament to weak financial control and oversight.

Further compounding its troubles, the company leased out a cafeteria at the Macculum Gate premises of the Ports Authority to a third party from 2008 to 2023. Despite the operation spanning 15 years, a sum of Rs. 4.5 million remains unpaid to the company, with no recovery action initiated even by the end of 2023. This negligence not only highlights lax financial governance but also exposes the absence of accountability mechanisms within the management.

Economists warn that the prolonged inefficiency of such semi-state enterprises imposes a silent but significant burden on the national economy. If a company with state ownership continues to generate negligible returns while holding valuable assets, it effectively ties up public capital that could be reallocated to productive sectors like logistics modernization, trade facilitation, or digital port management.

Given Sri Lanka’s ongoing efforts to reform and commercialize state-owned enterprises, the question of whether this company should continue to operate in its current form has become increasingly relevant. Analysts argue that unless the entity undergoes deep restructuring, transparent management reforms, and performance-based accountability, it will remain an economic liability rather than a contributor to national growth.

In the face of recurring losses, unpaid dues, and outdated operational practices, the company’s viability is now in serious doubt. Without decisive government intervention either through restructuring or strategic partnerships with private operators the once-promising venture risks becoming yet another failed state-owned enterprise draining scarce public resources.

Sri Lanka's Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has backed India's long-pending bid for a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), calling it a recognition of "global power realities" and that he will continue to support that effort.

In an interview with ANI during his ongoing visit to India, Premadasa said India's inclusion in the UNSC "would be a recognition of the practical realities of international politics."

"Years before, it was I who spoke openly about India being given a permanent seat in the UN Security Council. So it's an old topic for me," he said. "I will continue to support that effort, and I think that is a practical exposition of global power realities. You cannot discard India. You cannot marginalise India. India's representation at the UNSC would be a recognition of the practical realities of international politics."

Premadasa's comments come at a time when India continues to push for reforms in the UNSC to make it more representative of emerging powers and developing nations.

When asked about Sri Lanka's stance amid the complex India-China dynamic, Premadasa emphasised that Colombo values its "special strategic relationship" with New Delhi while maintaining ties with all nations.

"I can tell you what we believe in as a party, the main opposition party. We believe in having a special relationship, a special strategic relationship with India, and that relationship is very special," he said.

"In that context, we also have to work with all other countries. Our common objective is to promote peace. Peacebuilding is our objective. While maintaining this special relationship with India, we would like to act as a mediator, as the middle person to bring about peace, harmony, security and tranquillity in all the regions you spoke about," he added.

During his visit, Premadasa met External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Tuesday, where both leaders discussed India-Sri Lanka relations under the "Neighbourhood First" policy.

"Pleased to meet Leader of Opposition @sajithpremadasa of Sri Lanka. Discussed India-Sri Lanka relations and our Neighbourhood First policy. India will always be supportive of progress and development in Sri Lanka," Jaishankar wrote on X after the meeting.

Earlier in the day, Premadasa attended a talk at Sapru House organised by the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), where he highlighted the need for a structured approach to resolve the long-standing fishermen issue between the two nations.

"The fishing issue is very important. The two countries must cooperate and establish a proper, workable framework, one that is based on fact and substance," Premadasa said in a reply to a question by ANI at an event titled 'India-Sri Lanka Bilateral Relations' here.

He cited international conventions like the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and urged both sides to ensure that fishing activities remain legal and sustainable.

"There are international laws and regulations under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) concerning the continental shelf and high seas, which must be respected. It is important to ensure that illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing is addressed in line with these legal prescriptions," he added.

Acknowledging the livelihood concerns of fishermen, he said, "We understand that this involves the livelihood of households, but it is equally important to ensure that all such income-generation methods are lawful. Rather than operating without a clear and permanent framework, both sides should work together toward a lasting solution."

His remarks come amid ongoing tensions over Tamil Nadu fishermen entering Sri Lankan waters near Katchatheevu, often leading to arrests and maritime disputes.

(Source - ANI)