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A man stands near a small tea shop in Colombo carefully counting a few folded notes before ordering his evening meal. In another part of the country, a mother walks slowly through a supermarket while silently calculating which items she can afford and which ones must be left behind. A university student living away from home stares at a missed call from his parents because he already knows the conversation will somehow return to money. 

These are not extraordinary stories. They are ordinary Sri Lankan moments that quietly reveal how deeply money influences the emotional lives of people.

Society often treats money as either a symbol of greed or a measure of success, but psychologically, money is connected to something far more human. For most people, money is not about luxury cars, expensive hotels, or social media lifestyles. It is about safety, stability, dignity, and peace of mind. 

When people worry about money, they are rarely worried about paper notes themselves. They are worried about whether their children can continue school peacefully, whether there will be enough for medicine during an emergency, or whether tomorrow will become harder than today.

This became painfully visible during Sri Lanka’s recent economic crisis. People who once felt financially stable suddenly experienced fear and uncertainty in ways they had never imagined. 

Families started planning daily life around shortages, fuel queues, electricity cuts, and rising prices. Even individuals with education and employment felt emotionally shaken because financial insecurity affects the human mind in powerful ways. 

The stress was not limited to economics. It slowly entered relationships, conversations, sleeping patterns, and emotional well-being.

Survival, stability and dignity

Psychologists explain that when people experience constant financial pressure, the brain enters a state of survival thinking. In this condition, the mind focuses more on immediate threats and less on creativity, hope, and long-term thinking. 

This is why financial stress often makes people impatient, anxious, emotionally reactive, and mentally exhausted. A father who returns home frustrated after hearing about another price increase may not truly be angry about the price itself. A mother lying awake at night thinking about school expenses is not simply doing calculations. Both are carrying invisible emotional burdens connected to uncertainty and responsibility.

This is one reason why the statement ‘money cannot buy happiness’ can sometimes sound disconnected from reality. Happiness may not be purchasable, but financial instability can certainly damage peace of mind. 

There is a significant difference between luxury and emotional security. Luxury is wanting a more expensive phone or a larger television. Emotional security is knowing that there is enough money available when a parent becomes ill or when a child suddenly needs support. Most ordinary people are not trying to become millionaires. They are simply trying to reduce fear and create stability for themselves and their families.

A three-wheeler driver working late into the night may not be chasing wealth in the glamorous sense society imagines. He may simply want to pay school fees on time and avoid the embarrassment of borrowing money. 

A young woman saving part of her salary carefully each month may not be materialistic. She may simply want independence and the confidence that she can survive difficult situations without depending entirely on others. Money, in many ways, represents the ability to make choices with dignity.

A culture of comparison

At the same time, modern society has created a dangerous emotional confusion about money. Today people no longer compare values, kindness, or character as much as they compare lifestyles. 

Social media has intensified this behaviour by turning wealth into a public performance. One person posts photos of a new vehicle, another uploads images from a foreign vacation, and suddenly countless others begin questioning their own progress in life. People start feeling unsuccessful not because they are failing, but because they are constantly exposed to carefully edited versions of other people’s lives.

This culture of comparison creates deep psychological pressure. Some people begin spending beyond their actual capacity simply to maintain appearances. Others hide financial struggles behind smiling photographs and attractive captions. Many young people now feel that success must be visible and publicly displayed in order to be meaningful. 

Unfortunately, this mindset creates emotional exhaustion because the human mind quickly adapts to material improvements. The excitement of expensive purchases fades, salaries become normal over time, and new desires continuously replace old ones. This cycle leaves many people emotionally restless even after achieving financial goals they once believed would make them permanently happy.

That is why some individuals with modest incomes continue to live peacefully and joyfully, while others surrounded by wealth remain anxious and dissatisfied. 

Real wealth is often more psychological than material. A person who can sleep peacefully at night, manage emotions wisely, avoid unnecessary comparison, and maintain healthy relationships may actually be emotionally richer than someone constantly trapped in fear, debt, and social pressure.

The need for holistic financial education

Sri Lankan culture once understood this balance more naturally. In many families, happiness was measured through togetherness, mutual respect, and emotional connection rather than public display. Neighbours supported one another during difficult times, and people were less obsessed with proving success externally. 

Modern culture, however, has gradually replaced contentment with competition. People now feel pressure not only to survive but also to appear successful in the eyes of others. This invisible competition quietly damages emotional well-being because comparison constantly creates the feeling that one’s life is incomplete.

Perhaps this is why society must begin having healthier conversations about money. Children are taught mathematics, science, and language, but very few are taught how to emotionally understand money. 

Financial education should not only focus on earning and spending. It should also teach emotional discipline, self-worth, responsible living, and the difference between genuine needs and social pressure. A person who understands money psychologically is less likely to become controlled by it.

True wealth and wisdom

True financial wisdom is not always about earning the highest salary. Sometimes it is about creating balance, protecting peace of mind, avoiding unnecessary debt, and resisting social pressure. There is dignity in living within one’s means, intelligence in saving carefully, and strength in refusing to measure personal worth through public comparison. 

The richest moments in life are often deeply ordinary: a mother buying schoolbooks without anxiety, a young graduate supporting parents for the first time, a family eating dinner peacefully without discussing unpaid bills, or a father finally sleeping without fear of tomorrow’s expenses.

These moments rarely appear on social media, but psychologically they are priceless because they represent emotional stability. 

Perhaps the real purpose of money is not to make people superior to others, but to reduce fear and create possibility. Money provides breathing space for the human mind, and when people finally experience emotional breathing space, they become more hopeful, patient, creative, and emotionally present in their relationships and communities.

Sri Lanka does not merely need economic recovery. It also needs emotional recovery from the fear and exhaustion created by prolonged uncertainty. People need to rediscover that human value cannot be measured entirely through possessions or income. Money matters because stability matters, and stability protects the human spirit. 

Ultimately, true wealth may not be about becoming someone admired by strangers, but about reaching a stage in life where the mind feels calm, the family feels safe, and the future no longer feels controlled by fear.

Article's background and purpose

I saw an interesting presentation on how the value of Indian Rupee based on the exchange rate for the US dollar has fallen from Rs. 3 in 1947 to Rs. 94 in March 2026 which has now surpassed 95 (See the video here. India Rupee Slide) and a brief economic story behind this long-term falling trend of the Rupee as shown in the following chart. Similar presentations and concerns are seen for almost all currencies across the developping world consequent to the present war tensions in the Middle East and underlying disruptions of global supply chains.

Therefore, Indian exchange rate story is useful to benchmark the long-term trend of Sri Lanka Rupee to understand successes and failures of Sri Lankan economic managers. Although macroeconomic structure and living standards are significantly different between the two countries, the priority attached to the dollar exchange rate in the macroeconomic management and exchange rate policies are almost identical. Therefore, given the economic and political strength of India in the global economy, benchmarking Sri Lanka on Indian Rupee value seems reasonable.

Therefore, this article proposes that Sri Lankan policymakers compare its exchange rate story with Indian story and revisit the exchange rate policy framework in the interest of long-term macroeconomic development and living standards. This is important in the current globally stressful exchange rate environment in which some analysts predict currency crises, international insolvencies and collapse of living standards similar to country experiences in 2022/23.

Exchange rate economics and politics

Global development

Exchange rate is the price for trade between two currencies. In ancient kingdoms, kings taxed foreign trade but never intervened in prices of currency exchanges in trades.

However, modern state/sovereign currencies have been invented as political instruments for governments to take control over respective economies through fiscal operations. Therefore, governments across the world commenced intervening in currency prices and trades as a major part of their control of sovereign currencies.

Meantime, the US government since 1944 Bretton Woods agreement for gold-dollar-based exchange rate has led its currency, US dollar, to be the dominant global currency so that the US government secures the global economic power. As a result, currencies of the rest of the world have been operating largely on reserves built in the US dollar and, therefore, the exchange rate for the US dollar has been the single most dominant macroeconomic target across the world. This has led the exchange rate to be a very powerful geopolitical instrument across the world. 

In 1980s, Governments of developed market economies gave up the direct target and control of exchange rate by letting it to be determined largely in currency markets. However, the governments in the developing world continued to intervene in the exchange rate as the key driver in economic development and management based on the US dollar and its flows through global trade of goods, services and finance. 

In that background, a lot of exchange rate theories have been invented by economists to detect the macroeconomic impact of exchange rate as well as the use of exchange rate as a major macroeconomic policy instrument. These theories mostly center around three exchange rate regimes, i.e., fixed exchange rate, floating exchange rate and managed floating exchange rate. As such, exchange rate has become both the macroeconomic target and the macroeconomic policy instrument where most governments try to play both simultaneously.

Macroeconomic trap by exchange rates in developing countries

However, governments of many developing countries have been unable to drive respective economies to generate a healthy flow of dollars from international trade to support the currency stability, economic growth and better living standards. Therefore, country politics has evolved to raise foreign borrowing for building a dollar reserve buffer to manage the exchange rate at levels desirable for macroeconomic targets such as high growth, low inflation and high employment. 

In turn, this exchange rate politics, i.e., foreign borrowing-dollar reserve-exchange rate, has caused these economies in the worst trap as shown by currency crises, international bankruptcies and collapse of living standards from time to time. Even countries such as Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, South Korea and India who built sizable dollar reserves through aggressive domestic industrialization policies have been unable to insulate respective economies and living standards from exchange rate risks linked to the US dollar. It is this exchange rate politics that has led the IMF/World Bank to survive and govern the developing world through their loan programmes that support the dollar reserve and exchange rate although IMF/World Bank born in the Bretton Woods in 1944 were dead in 1971-73.

It is in this political background that the long-term trend of the value of the currency of any country should be understood. Therefore, the textbooks-based exchange rate economics has little importance for macroeconomic management of countries, other than its use for understanding of economic principles of currency markets.

Sri Lankan exchange rate policy journey vs India

Irrespective of underlying geopolitics on the exchange rate, Indian video shown above provides an insight into exploring of what might have caused the value of Sri Lankan rupee to depreciate excessively faster than Indian rupee. A trend comparison for the past 76 year-period 1950-2026 is shown in the chart below.

Sri Lankan monetary system and exchange rate policy after independence

Before establishing Sri Lankan currency and monetary system in 1950 by the Monetary Law Act, Sri Lankan monetary system was the Currency Board System which produced Sri Lankan rupee on its reserve of Indian rupee and, therefore, linked indirectly to the Sterling Pound to which Indian rupee was linked. Therefore, the parity or the exchange rate between Sri Lankan rupee and Indian rupee in 1950 was one, implying that there was no discretionary money printing in Sri Lanka. 

However, in 1950, Sri Lanka gained the sovereign currency status where the government got the freedom to print money for domestic economic objectives. Therefore, monetary variables such as exchange rate, interest rate, bank credit, foreign reserve, public debt and money supply were managed by the central bank for achieving desirable macroeconomic targets. In the recent past, balancing between the interest rate and exchange rate targeting the foreign reserve has become the hidden policy strategy that has produced unbearable macroeconomic costs to living standards. 

In that journey, irrespective of sovereign currency powers, relevant authorities have continued to manage the monetary system as a de-facto currency board by operating it on the dollar and borrowed dollar reserve with the exchange rate stability as the core of the macroeconomic management. The present macroeconomic management stance is also the same.

Therefore, Sri Lankan policy-making economists who continue to support IMF borrowing programmes to protect exchange rate stability, foreign trade openness and consumer price stability (low inflation) under neoliberal ideology are blessed with a practical research topic to find out why Sri Lanka has miserably failed behind India in its macroeconomic management as reflected in large deviations of the currency values, foreign reserve buffers and underlying policy directions.

Macroeconomic question to be answered by policy economists now

The simple question here to be answered is why, despite the fact that both Sri Lanka and India commenced with same dollar exchange rate in 1950, Sri Lankan rupee value has fallen by 6,777% against the dollar when Indian rupee fell by 1,916% during the period from 1950 to 2026. The same question in other words is why Sri Lankan rupee fell by 241% against Indian rupee during that period (see the chart above). 

In this period from 1950-1974, exchange rates were fixed rates under the Bretton Woods-IMF system and, therefore, they remained in a narrow band. However, after the collapse of the Bretton Woods-IMF fixed exchange rate system in 1971-1973, countries started experimenting numerous mechanisms for market-based flexible exchange rate regimes. Therefore, large deviations in exchange rates were reported after 1974/75. It is historic that Sri Lanka embarked on a flexible exchange rate regime since 15 November 1977 in order to give effects to the open economy policy model. Therefore, the question is really applicable to the trend of exchange rates after 1973.

The present concern is where exchange rates of both countries are heading to in the foreseeable future. Indian concern is the psychological limit of 100. Sri Lanka's psychological limit is how soon the exchange rate will pass 370, the record highest catastrophically experienced in 2022 economic and political crisis.

Whether the two countries are able to save the limits rest on the level of respective foreign reserve adequacy which are around 8.5 months of imports in India (about 690 bn dollars) and 3 months in Sri Lanka (about 6.7 bn dollars). Both have built the foreign reserve through foreign capital where the private equity is major in India while government borrowing and currency exchange is major in Sri Lanka as both have failed to generate a foreign surplus on the real trade. Therefore, both countries require significant suppression of economic growth and living standards to save these psychological exchange rate limits. However, if those limits are breached, the economy will be a free float that will require years and decades for recovery at a generational cost to the general public.

As the answer is not that sample, Sri Lankan policy economists at least can highlight major differences in economic policy politics between India and Sri Lanka and find out how those differences have caused Sri Lanka to be an economy increasingly vulnerable to currency and debt crises directly connected to exchange rate policy.

Concluding remarks

• Exchange rate is a political topic although it can have divergent macroeconomic stories.

• Therefore, macroeconomic fundamentals-based exchange rate stories are pure economic myths.

• The exchange rate in the developing world is a price highly controlled by means of risky foreign borrowing for unachievable macroeconomic objectives.

• Therefore, unless the current macroeconomic management policy framework is redesigned to exclude the exchange rate similar to developed countries in 1980s, developing countries will never see the light of sustainable development and livings standards.

• As Sri Lankan monetary system with the central bank that was established in 1950 was repealed by politics in 2023 with a non-accountable central bank, it is advisable that Sri Lanka goes back to the 1950 Currency Board System from the present de-facto dollar-based currency board system if the country politics continues to depend on the dollar for development and living standards. This system has long survived in island economies such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Caribbeans.

• This system will abolish the present discretionary money printing in rupee that every body dislikes at present and drive the economy and living standards officially on the dollar which is presently pursued unofficially.

• Unless such drastic currency policies are implemented, rupee's sovereign currency status will be lost to crypto currencies very soon. Meantime, country leaders will continue to live on imf dollar bailout packages of day-to-day living by compromising the country sovereignty.

(This article is released in the interest of participating in the professional dialogue to find solutions to present economic crisis confronted by the general public. All contents in the article are based on the author's research and views on the subject which have no intension to personally discredit characters or ideologies of any individuals.)

P Samarasiri

(BA Hons Economics, University of Colombo, MA Economics, University of Kansas)

Former Deputy Governor, First Central Bank of Sri Lanka

(35 years of experience in staff class in the Central Bank, inclusive of Director of Bank Supervision, Assistant Governor, Secretary to the Monetary Board and Compliance Officer of the Central Bank, Chairman of the Sri Lanka Accounting and Auditing Standards Board and Credit Information Bureau, Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka, Member of the Securities and Exchange Commission and Insurance Regulatory Commission and the Author of 13 Economics and Banking Books and a large number of articles published.)

In what is being hailed as a paradigm shift for the local education sector, the "LivePhysics" mobile application was recently launched, integrating cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence (AI) to redefine the learning experience. Designed to address the perennial grievances of Gen Z students—specifically the lack of personalized attention in overcrowded tuition hubs—the app promises a bespoke educational journey that bridges the gap between mass instruction and individual mastery. The innovation was recently unveiled during an exclusive discussion hosted by renowned media personality Narada Bakmeewewa, featuring veteran Physics educator Sanjeewa Dharmawardena and Dr. Chamath Palihawadana, Chief Technology Officer at BetaGen.

The "Study Buddy": A Bespoke AI Tutor

The centerpiece of the application is "SD AI," a sophisticated virtual assistant that transcends the capabilities of generic AI models like ChatGPT. Unlike standard chatbots, SD AI is built upon a proprietary knowledge base reflecting over 20 years of Mr. Dharmawardena’s specialized teaching methodologies and academic expertise. The application offers a remarkably immersive experience, allowing students to receive explanations, lesson summaries, and answers to complex queries in the familiar voice of their own teacher. This nuance provides a sense of continuity and trust that traditional digital platforms often lack.

Transforming Distraction into Discipline

While smartphones are frequently criticized as a primary distraction in a student's life, LivePhysics seeks to pivot the device’s role into a productivity powerhouse. The app serves as a holistic lifestyle coordinator, helping students schedule their sleep cycles, school hours, and dedicated study blocks.

To ensure focus, the system utilizes intelligent push notifications and guided interventions to curb unproductive phone usage during study hours, effectively mentoring the student toward better time management and digital discipline.

Empowering Parents through Real-Time Analytics

One of the most significant features for the modern Sri Lankan household is the real-time reporting dashboard. Parents and educators can now monitor a student’s progress with surgical precision, viewing data on study duration, weekly growth, and specific subject areas that require reinforcement. According to Sanjeewa Dharmawardena, this transparency is vital. "It eliminates the friction often found between parents and children regarding academic progress, replacing doubt with data and fostering a more supportive, trust-based learning environment," he noted.

Preserving Pedagogical Legacies

Dr. Chamath Palihawadana emphasized the long-term vision of the project, noting that the technology allows a teacher’s unique intellectual legacy and instructional style to be preserved indefinitely. This ensures that future generations can access the same high-quality mentorship regardless of time or location.

BetaGen, the technology partner behind the project, has announced its intention to extend this AI framework to other leading educators and academic institutions across Sri Lanka. This move is expected to democratize high-end personalized tutoring, setting a new gold standard for the nation’s educational landscape. For the discerning Sri Lankan parent and the ambitious student, LivePhysics represents more than just a digital tool—it is the arrival of a more intelligent, intuitive, and individualized future for education.

The Department of Meteorology stated that, according to today’s latest weather analysis, the low-pressure area located northeast of Sri Lanka continues to persist.

The Department said it is continuously monitoring the behavior, development and path of the system. 

Due to the influence of the above system, showers or thundershowers will occur at times and cloudy skies are expected in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, North-Western and Northern provinces and in Galle and Matara districts, the Met. Department added. 

Fairly heavy showers of about 75 mm are likely at some places in these areas. 

Several spells of showers will occur in the Anuradhapura district, it added. 

Meanwhile, showers or thundershowers may occur at a few places in the Uva and Eastern provinces after 1.00 pm. 

The general public has been requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damage caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.

(Adaderana.lk)

Oil prices gained more than 3% on Friday, after comments by U.S. President Donald Trump and Iran’s foreign minister further dented hopes of a deal to end ship attacks and seizures around the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude futures settled at $109.26 a barrel, up $3.54, or 3.35%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures finished at $105.42 a barrel, up $4.25, or 4.2%.

Over the week, Brent has climbed 7.84% and WTI 10.48% on uncertainty over the shaky ceasefire in the Iran war.

“The tone between the U.S. and Iran has once again become significantly more confrontational. While the ceasefire holds, hopes for a swift reopening of the Strait of Hormuz have faded,” Commerzbank analysts said.

Iran has “no trust” in the United States and is interested in negotiating only if Washington is serious, Foreign ⁠Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Friday, adding that Iran is prepared to go back to fighting but also prepared for diplomatic solutions.

Trump said he is running out of patience with Iran and that he has agreed with Chinese President Xi Jinping that Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon and must reopen the strait. About a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas normally passes through the strait, which is the gateway to the Gulf and main export route for countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Qatar.

Xi did not comment on his discussions with Trump about Iran, though China’s foreign ministry issued a statement.

“This conflict, which should never have happened, has no reason to continue,” the ministry said.

Among deals the market was looking for from the U.S.-China summit, Trump said China wants to buy oil from the United States. Trump also said he could lift sanctions on Chinese companies that buy Iranian oil.

“Market focus is ⁠back on the deadlock and a blockaded Strait of Hormuz, with a tail risk of renewed military escalation,” said Vandana Hari, founder of oil market analysis provider Vanda Insights.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said that 30 vessels had crossed the strait between Wednesday evening and Thursday, still far short of the 140 a day that was typical before the war, but a substantial increase, if confirmed.

“An increasing number of vessels are filtering through the strait ... although currently this has a more tangible impact on sentiment than on the actual ⁠oil balance,” PVM analyst Tamas Varga said.

The strait’s closure comes at a time when reserves are running thin.

“The world has consumed its oil safety net at a historic rate,” Phil Flynn, senior analyst with Price Futures Group, said in a note. “While strategic releases and demand reduction have prevented immediate chaos, the margin for error is shrinking rapidly. A ⁠prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz points toward tighter physical markets, potential refined product shortages, and upward pressure on prices in the coming weeks and months.”

Shipping analytics firm Kpler said on Thursday that 10 ships had sailed through the strait in the past 24 hours, compared with the five to seven ⁠that have crossed daily in recent weeks.

“Crude is trading higher on a combination of the Trump-Xi meeting doing little to bring us closer to a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and continued Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries,” Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen said.

Source: Reuters

The Colombo High Court today (14) rejected a preliminary objection raised by the defence in a case filed against Yoshitha Rajapaksa, son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, clearing the way for the trial to proceed.

The ruling was delivered by Colombo High Court Judge Udesh Ranatunga, according to an Ada Derana reporter.

In delivering the order, the judge stated that the defence argument claiming the conspiracy charge against the defendant could not be maintained was without basis. The court further held that there was no impediment to proceeding with the relevant charge.

Following the ruling, the indictment was read out in open court to the defendant, Yoshitha Rajapaksa. Appearing from the dock, he pleaded not guilty to the charges levelled against him, the Ada Derana report said.

With the plea recorded, proceedings officially commenced before the Colombo High Court, marking the start of the trial under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

A controversial video circulating online has triggered renewed public debate over governance, transparency, and strategic direction at Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) and Mobitel, particularly surrounding the long-delayed commercial rollout of 5G services.

The presenter, Ajith Dharmapala, alleges that operational delays and internal decision-making failures within SLT-Mobitel may be benefiting rival telecom operators at the expense of the state-owned company and Sri Lankan taxpayers.

Central to the criticism are SLT Chairman Mothilal De Silva and CEO Riyaz Rasheed, both of whom are alleged to have previously worked within competing telecom circles. The video questions whether such past affiliations may present conflicts of interest in current strategic decisions.

The presenter also raises concerns regarding leadership capacity and sector readiness, particularly pointing to the rapidly evolving telecommunications industry and Mobitel’s comparatively slow commercial 5G rollout despite reportedly investing nearly LKR 5 billion in spectrum rights. According to the claims made, the company is allegedly incurring approximately LKR 200 million in monthly costs linked to the spectrum investment while competitors continue expanding their market share through active 5G deployment.

Another major issue highlighted involves allegations surrounding a high-level meeting said to have taken place at Shangri-La Colombo regarding a telecom-related transaction reportedly valued between LKR 20–25 billion. The video questions why such discussions were allegedly handled privately by a limited group of executives instead of being formally tabled before the SLT Board. However, no documentary evidence supporting these allegations was presented publicly.

The video further claims that certain politically connected individuals and some board-level appointments may be undermining governance standards within the institution. Concerns are also raised regarding transparency, accountability, and broader public confidence in the management of the state-backed telecom entity.

The presenter has ultimately called for:

•⁠ ⁠A formal government audit into the 5G investment and rollout delays

•⁠ ⁠Investigations into possible conflicts of interest

•⁠ ⁠Greater transparency in decision-making processes

•⁠ ⁠Administrative changes within the current leadership structure

As of now, SLT-Mobitel has not publicly responded to the allegations contained in the video.