Browsing VR Insights (issues) by Title
Now showing items 1-20 of 101
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13% primary expenditure rule proposed for Sri Lanka departs from economic theory and practice
(Colombo: Verité Research, 2024-07)The 13% primary expenditure rule proposed in a new public finance bill is at odds with established economic theory. It will undermine “good” public spending that enhances growth, efficiency, and social welfare. It will also ... -
Achieving fiscal targets: Long procrastination will continue = බාලගිරි දෝෂයකට හසුවී ඇති අයවැය ඉලක්කයන්
(Colombo: Verité Research, 2014-01-22)Sri Lanka’s national budgets reveals a persistent pattern of "long procrastination" in meeting fiscal targets. The government is chronically addicted to missing its budget revenue targets, suffering consistent double-digit ... -
Agriculture and defence budgets reveal unstated priorities in policy = සැබෑ වියදම් සහ මූල්ය ප්රතිපාදන වෙන් කිරීම අතර නොගැලපුම
(Colombo: Verité Research, 2014-12-07)A country's budget is expected to outline a government's short and medium term fiscal policy framework; explaining how the government plans to raise, allocate and spend public resources. This insight is motivated by the ... -
Any president can contest a third term – if 18A is valid
(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 diaspora workers source of Lanka’s growth? = දේශීය පදනමක් මත පල නොදැරූ මෑත කාලීන ආර්ථික වෘද්ධිය
(Colombo: Verité Research, 2013-08-28)Post-war Sri Lanka has been looking prosperous, with high GDP growth numbers. This Insight delves into the data to examine where exactly the growth stems from within the three main sectors into which all of GDP is categorised: ... -
Are Sri Lanka’s exports to India over dependent on concessions?
(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 ... -
Are Women Reaping the Fruits of their Education? = කාන්තාවන් අධ්යාපනයේ නිසි ඵල ලබා ගැනීමට සමත් වී ඇතිද?
(Colombo: Verité Research, 2014-10-09)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 ... -
The Budget Is Not Mainly About Money, It’s About Governance
(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. ... -
Busting capital expenditure myth = ප්රාග්ධන වියදම පිළිබඳ මිථ්යාවෙහි බිඳවැටීම
(Colombo: Verité Research, 2014-02-19)This Insight addresses the capital expenditure (Capex) myth by debunking the idea that Sri Lanka’s economic crises are driven by robust infrastructure spending. Instead, Verité highlights that actual Capex is consistently ... -
Can the Singapore Chinthanaya work for Sri Lanka? = සිංගප්පූරු චින්තනය ශ්රී ලංකාවට පූර්වාදර්ශයක් විය හැකිද?
(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”?
(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’ = අර්බුදයට යන ශ්රී ලංකාවේ සෙස් බදු ක්රමය
(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?
(Colombo: 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 insight finds that the CPC sells fuel at prices higher than ... -
Cigarette Tax Indexation, Getting It Right and Getting It Wrong
(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 = දුම්වැටි බදු අයකිරීමේ සූත්රය අමතක වීමේ පිරිවැය
(Colombo: Verité Research, 2022-06)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, 2020 දී, රජයට රුපියල් බිලියන 20ක අමතර ආදායමක්
(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
(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 ... -
Cigarette taxes should be rescued from bureaucratic discretion = නිලධාරී අභිමතයට හසුවී ඇති සිගරට් මිල ගණන්
(Colombo: Verité Research, 2014-07-16)The focus of the World Health Organisation (WHO) is on raising taxes on tobacco, in order to raise prices and reduce consumption. This insight explains the serious consistency issues in Sri Lanka on setting taxes and prices ... -
De-mystifying Increase in Sri Lanka’s Debt
(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 ... -
Do Women and Minorities Face Glass Ceilings in Employment
(Colombo: Verité Research, 2013-05)Does employment data in Sri Lanka unearth a hidden story of discrimination? Do women and ethnic minorities in Sri Lanka encounter a glass ceiling that prevents them climbing the ladder of employment in the private sector ...