https://archive.veriteresearch.org/handle/123456789/348 Sat, 11 Jul 2026 20:35:03 GMT 2026-07-11T20:35:03Z https://archive.veriteresearch.org/handle/456/8267 Revitalising Export Finance for Export Growth Econ Team Since the turn of the century, Sri Lanka’s exports have fared poorly. The share of exports to GDP has steadily declined from 33 per cent to 15 per cent during 2000-2014, and exports have stagnated at around US$10 billion since 2011. This article draws attention to the role of export finance in reviving export growth. It looks at inhibiting factors in the current export finance environment and provides recommendations to overcome these constraints. This Insight was originally published in the Sunday Times on 06 March 2016 and is available at the link: https://www.sundaytimes.lk/160306/business-times/revitalising-export-finance-for-export-growth-185008.html Sun, 06 Mar 2016 00:00:00 GMT https://archive.veriteresearch.org/handle/456/8267 2016-03-06T00:00:00Z https://archive.veriteresearch.org/handle/456/8262 Are Women Reaping the Fruits of their Education? = කාන්තාවන් අධ්‍යාපනයේ නිසි ඵල ලබා ගැනීමට සමත් වී ඇතිද? Econ Team Economic research and theory is quite clear on the ‘returns to education’: education is generally positively correlated with jobs and income levels. However, this insight identifies the problem that in Sri Lanka, this relationship seems to be dysfunctional for women. The country has educated its women well, but translating education into employment has proved challenging. The female labour force participation has declined, and a particularly severe gap exists between male and female employment among the educated. The insight delves into the nature of this issue of women not translating educational gains into increased employment and suggests possible explanations for this. This Insight is originally published in the Daily Mirror 9 October 2014 (https://www.dailymirror.lk/print/features/are-women-reaping-the-fruits-of-their-education/185-53500). Sinhala version is also included here. Thu, 09 Oct 2014 00:00:00 GMT https://archive.veriteresearch.org/handle/456/8262 2014-10-09T00:00:00Z https://archive.veriteresearch.org/handle/456/8261 The Socialist Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka - Is it Socialist? = ශ්‍රී ලංකා ප්‍රජාතාන්ත්‍රික සමාජවාදී ජනරජය සැබෑ ලෙසම සමාජවාදී ද? Econ Team This insight explores the question of whether Sri Lanka is waning in its commitments to social institutions. The analysis shows that while ‘developing’ Asia lags behind the rest of the world in commitments to social institutions, ‘developing’ Sri Lanka is doing even worse than the Asian average. In other words, Sri Lanka is lagging behind Asia in terms of spending on education, health and social protection (i.e. expenditure on social welfare and community services). The Insight also explains why expenditure on social services is so important for countries. This Insight is originally published in the Daily Mirror 21 May 2014 (https://www.dailymirror.lk/features/socialist-democratic-republic-of-sri-lanka-is-it-socialist/185-47352). Sinhala version is also included here. Wed, 21 May 2014 00:00:00 GMT https://archive.veriteresearch.org/handle/456/8261 2014-05-21T00:00:00Z https://archive.veriteresearch.org/handle/456/8260 Is Sri Lanka’s Logistics Hub Steaming Ahead? = ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ක්‍රමෝපායික කේන්ද්‍රස්ථානයක් (Logistics Hub) වීමට සාර්ථක ගමනක යෙදෙන්නේද? Econ Team Sri Lanka clearly has the potential to become a logistics hub. Over the past years, the Colombo port’s capacity has been expanded as a step towards this goal. However, although expanding supply through capacity expansion is an important necessary step, it is not enough. To be poised for success Sri Lanka needs to generate demand and demand cannot be created by capacity alone. This Insight uses the World Bank’s International Logistics Performance Index (an index which covers 160 economies and is a worldwide survey of multinational freight forwarders and the main express carriers) to show that it is also important to make Sri Lanka competitive on other factors that matter to global logistics players. Investment in soft infrastructure, including IT and process reform must be as much of a priority as increasing port capacity. Sri Lanka’s future in logistics will depend on it. This Insight is originally published in the Daily Mirror 2 July 2014 (https://www.dailymirror.lk/print/features/is-sri-lankas-logistics-hub-steaming-ahead/185-49166). Sinhala version is also included here. Wed, 02 Jul 2014 00:00:00 GMT https://archive.veriteresearch.org/handle/456/8260 2014-07-02T00:00:00Z