ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka wants to use the economic stability achieved through International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme as a “strong foundation to take the country towards a transformative era”, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has said when he met the visiting IMF team on Thursday (17).

An IMF delegation is in Sri Lanka for the seventh review of the country’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme and the 2026 Article IV Consultation.

“President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said recent economic indicators clearly demonstrate that the Sri Lankan economy has now entered a path towards stability, and that the government’s objective is to use this stability as a strong foundation to take the country towards a transformative era,” the President’s Media Division (PMD) said in a statement.

“The President also emphasised that the government’s objective was to use the economic gains achieved by the country to ease and improve the living standards of the people.”

IMF Mission Chief Evan Papageorgiou at the meeting commended the country’s progress in maintaining fiscal discipline during the recent period, including increasing government revenue and attracting foreign investment, the PMD said.

“He further highlighted the importance of ensuring that the economic stability achieved so far is maintained when moving towards 2027 and beyond.”

The difficulties faced by the public due to increased energy costs arising from the conflict in the Middle East were also discussed during the meeting.

Under the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility program, Sri Lanka has achieved crucial macroeconomic stabilization.

The positive outcomes include a rebound in foreign exchange reserves, lowered inflation, a stabilized currency, and the gradual resumption of economic growth alongside sovereign debt restructuring.

However, these structural adjustments have come at a severe social cost for ordinary citizens.

To meet stringent fiscal revenue targets, the government implemented aggressive tax measures, including an expanded Value Added Tax (VAT) rate and broadened personal income taxes.

In the absence of a fully operational and adequate social safety net, these measures have severely eroded real household incomes amid rising poverty level.

Although the government introduced the Aswesuma welfare scheme to replace older assistance programs, administrative delays, targeting errors, and coverage gaps have left millions of low- and middle-income families unprotected.

As elevated indirect taxes drive up the cost of food, utility tariffs, and basic consumer goods, vulnerable populations face rising living costs with limited social protection, exposing the stark trade-off between strict fiscal consolidation and social equity. (Colombo/September 17/2026)

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s Ministerial Consultative Committee on Energy Affairs has approved the decision to call investment proposals to explore and develop petroleum resources in the country, the island nation’s parliament said on Thursday.

Last month, Sri Lanka offered four offshore blocks in the Northwestern Mannar Basin for international investors to explore oil and gas in a fresh attempt to attract investments into the sector after an earlier attempt ended unsuccessfully because production was not commercially viable.

The Mannar Basin, which lies between southern India and northwestern Sri Lanka, may hold around $260 billion worth of oil and gas resources, A Sri Lanka’s former energy minister has told the parliament in 2021.

The latest attempt is the first under President Anura Kumara Dissanayake government to explore oil and gas in the area.

Based on seismic surveys, previous governments estimated that a 30,000 square kilometre area off the country’s north coast holds over one million barrels of oil resources.

The latest approval of the order by the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Energy will help formalize the relevant process.

“Under this order, any person seeking to explore or develop petroleum resources in one or more identified blocks is required to submit an investment proposal together with payment of the administrative fee specified in the relevant invitation for bids,” Parliament said in a statement.

Sri Lanka’s pursuit of offshore oil and gas exploration began in the late 1960s, initially focusing on shallow offshore areas in the Gulf of Mannar and the Cauvery Basin.

Early exploratory drilling yielded limited technical success until 2011, when Cairn Lanka, a subsidiary of Cairn India at that time, made a breakthrough by discovering significant natural gas accumulations in two offshore wells within the deep water Mannar Basin.

These discoveries established the presence of commercially viable natural gas and condensate deposits.

However, due to complex deep water extraction dynamics, a lack of domestic natural gas infrastructure, and global energy market shifts, commercial production failed to materialize, leading Cairn to exit the block in 2015.

Following years of stagnation, Sri Lanka modernized its regulatory setup by enacting the Petroleum Resources Act of 2021 and establishing the Petroleum Development Authority of Sri Lanka (PDASL) to manage exploration rights and update offshore acreage block maps.

To revitalize foreign investment and lower its heavy reliance on coal and oil imports, the country introduced new joint-study regulations and structured new licensing frameworks.

These efforts aim to attract international oil and gas majors to explore and commercialize the estimated hydrocarbon potential across its three major prospective sedimentary basins: the Mannar, Cauvery, and Lanka Basins. (Colombo/September 17/2026)

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s rupee closed at 331.50/90 to the US dollar in the spot market on Thursday, from 332.00/40 at open, while bond yields eased off, dealers said.

A bond maturing on 15.09.2027 closed at 9.90/10.05 percent.

A bond maturing on 15.09.2029 closed at 10.90/11.00 percent, down from 11.00/15 percent.

A bond maturing on 01.08.2030 closed at 11.30/40 percent, down from 11.45/50 percent.t.

A bond maturing on 01.02.2031 closed at 11.42/48 percent, down from 11.65/70 percent.

A bond maturing on 15.12.2032 closed at 11.70/80 percent.

A bond maturing on 01.11.2033 closed at 11.80/85 percent, down from 11.85/95 percent.

A bond maturing on 15.10.2034 closed at 12.00/15 percent, down from 12.10/20 percent. (Colombo/Sep17/2026)

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s Colombo Stock Exchange closed down on Thursday trading, CSE data showed, with the benchmark All Share Price Index moving down 0.47 percent.

The ASPI was down 100.30 points at 21,033.11, while the more liquid S&P SL20 was down 0.30 percent, or 17.84 points, at 5,929.45.

“With the GDP numbers coming back in, for 9 quarters we were averaging above 5 percent growth, this has dropped to 4.2 percent this quarter, which could signal first sign of momentum slowing down,” Raynal Wickremeratne, Head of Research and Strategies, NDB Securities, said on the recent downward trend in the market.

Wickremeratne also said that the impending US midterm elections could see a reaction from investors, where they could even take positions prior to the election based on pre-election polls.

Additionally, anticipated price hikes in crude oil due to developing situations in the Middle East, as well as rising inflation due to the El Nino climate patterns, are all possible factors considered by investors.

However, movement has been seen in a few blocks, including PickMe, Hayleys, John Keells Holdings and Melstacorp, which have seen crossings take place, which is a positive sign in the market, according to Wickremeratne.

Positive contributors to the ASPI were John Keells Holdings (up 0.52 percent at 19.20 rupees), Central Finance Company (up 0.81 percent at 218.50 rupees), SANASA Development Bank (up 3.17 percent at 48.80 rupees), and ACL Cables (up 0.74 percent at 94.80 rupees).

Melstacorp (down 1.64 percent at 180.25 rupees), Dialog Axiata (down 1.96 percent at 45.00 rupees), Hayleys (down 1.54 percent at 224.00 rupees), and Ceylinco Insurance (down 1.28 percent at 2,820.00 rupees) were top negative contributors.

Market turnover was 1.33 billion rupees. Capital goods led turnover with 282.3 million rupees, followed by Food, Beverage & Tobacco with 230.4 million rupees and Banks with 228.4 million rupees.

“Actual turnovers are quite low once you take the crossings out of the equation,” Wickremeratne added further. (Colombo/September17/2026)

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka has sold 10,000 million rupees of treasury bills offered on tap at an average rate of 9.18 percent, the public debt management office said, bringing the total of bills sold this week to 70.01 billion rupees.

Total market subscription was 10,000 million rupees.

The debt office sold a 3-month bill at 9.24 percent.

On Wednesday (16) the debt office raised 70 billion rupees of 3, 6 and 12 month bills. (Colombo/Sep17/2026)

ECONOMYNEXT – How Sri Lanka can make better use of Asia’s growing share of global economic activity to attract investment, expand trade and strengthen its position in regional value chains will be among the key questions at the Sri Lanka Economic & Investment Summit 2026, organisers said.

The “Linking Sri Lanka to Asia’s Growth Networks: Trade, Corridors, and Value Chains,” session of the summit organised by The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce on 12-13 October will examine the opportunities for Sri Lanka to deepen its integration with the wider Asian economy and build stronger connections with regional and global markets.

P D Singh, Chief Executive Officer, India and South Asia, Standard Chartered Bank will deliver the keynote address, then join a panel discussion with Deputy Minister Chathuranga Abeysinghe, Japan ambassador Akio Isomata, Toyota Lanka Chairman Masaaki Kawabata, Maliban Biscuits CEO Ravi Jayawardena.

The session will be moderated by Subhashini Abeysinghe – Research Director- Verité Research.

“The discussion will consider what Sri Lanka needs to do to strengthen its position within these networks, including improving trade connectivity, attracting investment and creating a business environment that enables companies to participate more effectively in regional and global value chains,” the chamber said.

It will also look at the experience of businesses and international institutions operating across the region, providing perspectives on how companies assess markets, build supply chains and identify locations for investment.

With supply chains and investment flows increasingly shaped by regional connectivity, the session will also consider the partnerships and strategies needed to position Sri Lanka as a more competitive participant in Asia’s growth networks, while creating opportunities for trade, investment, innovation and economic growth.

The session will form part of the second day of SLEIS 2026, held under the theme “Positioning Sri Lanka in a Changing Global Economy: Resilience, Reform, and the Future of Economic Policy.” (Colombo/Sep17/226)