May 26 (TM) In the wake of recent remarks by JVP General Secretary, Tilvin Silva, that PC Elections cannot be held this year, Election Commission (EC) stated that statements made by various individuals, including politicians, do not matter to the Commission and the Elections would be held once the relevant legal issues are cleared. When contacted, EC Chairperson R M A L Rathnayake said they do not take such more..

May 26 (FT) The rupee strengthened against the US dollar for the second consecutive session yesterday. The buy/sell LKR/USD interbank spot contracts closed at Rs. 325.50/Rs. 327.00 as against Friday’s closing of Rs. 329.00/Rs. 335.00. The spot market buy/sell rate eased on Friday from Thursday’s Rs. 331/Rs. 348 level, which marked the currency’s weakest level against the dollar last week, after the Central Bank of SL (CBSL) used moral suasion to calm a panicking market. more..

May 26 (DM) In a bid for economic risk mitigation over the falling dollar rate and surging import bills, the govt mulls the reintroduction of work from home for the public and private sector employees as done during the pandemic, an official said. The official who wished to remain anonymous said that the plan would be announced either today or tomorrow. He said the govt urgently needed to save on fuel usage, particularly diesel at the time. In recent days, the rupee value has crumbled. more..

May 26 (FT) SL’s export sector posted its highest-ever April performance, with total earnings surpassing $ 1.38 billion and reflecting a 6% year-on-year (YoY) growth driven by strong merchandise exports, despite a decline in services income. The merchandise exports shipped in April were up 9.87% YoY to over $ 1.06 billion, though estimated service earnings in the month decreased by 6.13% YoY to $ 317.16 million. more..

May 26 (AD) Governor of the Northern Province, Nagalingam Vethanayahan has dismissed social media reports claiming that dansals and Vesak decorations have been banned in the Northern Province during this year’s Vesak season. Governor’s Office said the claims circulating online are entirely false and without any basis. Statement emphasized that no such decision had been taken by the Governor’s Secretariat and that no discussions had been held regarding more..

May 26 (FT) Ceylon United Business Alliance (CUBA), a collective of small and medium businesses (SMEs), has written to Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake calling for a temporary ban on non-essential imports to protect dollar reserves and local industries from escalating pressures from global supply shocks caused by the Middle East crisis. CUBA said: “SL is again facing a severe USD shortage. Before it is too late, we respectfully request the Govt to immediately impose more..

May 26 (FT) With probably the most anticipated Monetary Policy Statement in recent times to be announced by the Central Bank (CBSL) today, it yesterday said banks continued to expand lending appetite and observed rising loan demand across most sectors during the first quarter of 2026, despite growing external risks from Middle East tensions and Cyclone Ditwah. According to the CBSL Credit Supply Survey: Trends in 1Q and Outlook for 2Q 2026, the banking sector’s willingness to more..

May 26 (AD) The Central Bank of SL (CBSL) has indicated that vehicle prices could see a temporary increase due to higher surcharges imposed on vehicle imports and fluctuations in exchange rates. Speaking on the issue, representatives of the Vehicle Importers’ Association of SL (VIASL) urged authorities to provide relief at least for vehicles that have already been imported or for which Letters of Credit (LCs) have already been opened. The Vice President of the VIASL, more..

May 26 (ST) Since the end of the military defeat of the LTTE by the country’s armed forces in May 2009, each year the sacrifices made by the thousands of war heroes are commemorated with the Head of State, who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, in attendance. On Monday, Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayke led the country in commemorating the day that saw the end of nearly a three-decade separatist war that more..

May 26 (DN) NZ women’s ‘A’ signed off with a 5-wicket win in the final T-20 game at Dambulla Stadium yesterday but SL women’s ‘A’ led by Sathya Sandepani sealed the three match series 2-1 at Dambulla. NZ women’s ‘A’ skipper Jess Watkin bowled a superb spell claiming 4 for 4 in her 2.5 over stint as SL which elected to bat first were reduced to 78 all out in 16.5 overs. The visitors reached the target with five wickets in hand with 7 balls to spare to end the tour with a solitary victory. more..

May 26 (TM) Newly-appointed cricket selection committee chair ex-SL medium-pacer Kapila Wijegunawardene, says that his panel has had no input into the selection of the national white and red-ball squads due to take off for a series in the West Indies, shortly. “The Men’s squads for the tour of the Caribbean had been picked by the previous committee," Wijegunawardene, 61, told The Daily Morning Sports, when inquired whether his panel had selected the respective squads. more..

May 26 (AD) Parliamentary Select Committee on Reviewing Election Laws has met for the first time in Parliament under the chairmanship of the Minister of Public Admin, PCs and LG, Prof. A.H.M.H. Abayarathna. The primary objective of the committee is to review laws relating to the electoral system, including the Registration of Electors Act, Local Authorities Elections Ordinance, Parliamentary Elections Act, Presidential Elections Act, as well as amendments made to those laws over the more..

May 26 (AD) A discussion between PM and Minister of Higher Education and Vocational Education, Dr. Harini Amarasuriya and representatives of the Education Graduate Association is scheduled to take place tomorrow (26) regarding the ongoing issue over teacher recruitment. The discussion will be held over the failure to recruit graduates from the 2018/19 and 2019/20 academic years of state universities into the teaching service. The association stated that under the SL Teacher Service Minute, more..

May 26 (FT) Former CB Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy has said the recent depreciation pressure on the rupee was driven primarily by external shocks stemming from the Middle East conflict, while arguing that market participants had overreacted despite major improvements in SL’s macroeconomic policy framework. He said the current situation was qualitatively different from the 2022 economic crisis, noting that domestic more..

May 26 (DM) Referring to what has been taking place behind the scene during the past few weeks, opposition MP Chamara Sampath Dassanayake said that he has been told that Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake had sought the assistance of former Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe and a few others to stabilise the economy. “We have heard that Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake had sought the assistance of Former Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe & few others including SJB MP Harsha de Silva more..

May 26 (ST) Sri Lankan authorities are considering expanding investments by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) in the stock market and other approved investment avenues, a move that is viewed with concern by trade unions, who had voiced protests earlier when the EPF invested in what were called dud companies and lost badly in the process. At the May 15 meeting of the tripartite National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC) chaired by Labour Minister Anil Jayantha Fernando, more..

May 26 (ST) CB’s Financial Investigation Unit (FIU) has, for the first time, flagged in its National Risk Assessment (NRA) report a developing threat known as pig butchering involving foreign scammers in SL targeting largely overseas nationals via scam farms. A pig butchering scam is a long-term confidence and investment fraud where criminals build fake romantic or friendly relationships to manipulate victims more..

May 26 (FT) Dialog Axiata yesterday overtook John Keells Holdings (JKH) to become the most valuable listed company in terms of market capitalisation. Dialog’s market cap reached Rs. 367.1 billion, amounting to 4.51% of total market cap, which was Rs. 8.11 trillion yesterday, up 2.04% from Friday. JKH came second with a Rs. 359.4 billion market cap (4.42% of total market cap), followed by Ceylon Tobacco Company with Rs. 341.9 billion (4.2%), Commercial Bank with Rs. 320.9 bil (3.95%) more..

May 26 (FT) Home Lands yesterday revealed the name of its latest twin tower high-rise development project in the Central Park district of Port City Colombo, Central Park Boulevard Port City. The company said it was offering unmatched value for investors and home buyers with the announcement of its attractive pre-launch prices, based on a special per-square-foot rate ranging from $ 300 to $ 400 per square foot. Pre-launch prices start from Rs. 60 million for one-bedroom (1BR), more..

May 26 (DN) SL women’s volleyball team kept their hopes alive with a convincing 3-0 victory over Bangladesh in the CAVA Women’s Volleyball Championship preliminary round match played in Kathmandu, Nepal yesterday. But the SL spikers still failed to secure a place in the semi-finals after earlier defeats against Kazakhstan and Iran. SL produced an impressive all-round performance in the heated encounter, winning the first set 25-19 before completely dominating the second set 25-6. more..

May 26 (TM) Colombo Stock Exchange began the week higher on Monday, with both benchmark indices gaining nearly 2% as local investors drove a broad-based recovery. ASPI rose 435.13 points, or 1.98%, to close at 22,364.77, while S&P SL 20 Index gained 118.09 points, or 1.95%, to end at 6,179.10. The rally helped trim recent losses, although the ASPI remained down 0.82% month-to-date and 1.15% year-to-date. S&P SL20 was down 0.46% month-to-date but remained marginally more..

May 26 (CI) The new SL Cricket selection panel headed by Kapila Wijegunawardene has handed the white-ball captaincy to Kusal Mendis for the upcoming all-format tour of the West Indies next month. Dhananjaya de Silva will continue to lead the side in the two Tests. Kusal Mendis takes over the ODI captaincy from Charith Asalanka, who had earlier been elbowed out of the T20I job ahead of the T20 World Cup, and has now been replaced more..

May 26 (Island) At a symposium on reconciliation organised by the National Peace Council last week, more than 250 religious clergy, civic activists and political representatives from different communities gathered to discuss the country’s future. Speaking at the event, Minister Bimal Rathnayake explained the govt’s approach to national reconciliation. He said the govt viewed the country’s recovery in terms of a three stage process. First stage was stabilisation, second was development and more..

May 26 (CT) The world of SL journalism will never see another D.B.S. Jeyaraj. Forced into exile by extremists among Tamil nationalists, Jeyaraj braved death threats and persistent danger to keep the world informed about the twists and turns during the long years a horrific separatist war raged in Sri Lanka. There were many journalists at work during those turbulent years, but a few enjoyed the kind of access he had to virtually all the Tamil actors, and fewer still earned the wide credibility more..

May 26 (Island) The Opposition derived perverse pleasure from the rupee’s tumble, which they apparently thought signalled the beginning of the end of the JVP-NPP rule. Its leaders gave ball-by-ball commentaries of the rupee depreciation in Parliament, apparently expecting the US dollar to rally to 370 rupees, the level associated with the peak of the currency crisis that preceded the ouster of Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa (GR). These politicians have been labouring under the misconception more..

May 26 (GV) They moved with grace initially with hands placed in positions that perfectly captured the essence of classical South Indian Bharatanatyam dance. Their movements told stories that couldn’t be portrayed using their facial expressions. They walked in with hope. Then, they dropped down one after another, ending up on their knees and finally curling down onto the ground of Trafalgar Square. They stood for the innocent children who had been murdered and buried. more..

May 26 (TM) SL’s latest population census has delivered what appears to be a demographic shock. According to the 2024 Census, SL’s fertility rate has fallen to just 1.3 children per woman—a level usually associated with some of the world’s lowest-fertility societies. If taken at face value, this would signal a dramatic and rapid shift in how SL families are formed. But is this really a fertility crisis—or are we misreading the numbers? more..

May 26 (TM) We are once again watching fuel prices climb with alarming speed, and with every increase heightens a sense of anxiety. In just the first five months of this year, fuel prices have been revised upward repeatedly, with some categories rising by well over Rs 100 per litre. Petrol 92 now stands at Rs 410, auto diesel at Rs 392, and kerosene at Rs 265. For a country still recovering from the 2022 economic collapse, these numbers pose a direct threat to household survival. more..

May 26 (DM) Sri Lankans are beginning to fear they are heading into a similar nightmarish period along the lines of the economic crisis of April 2022. The era which marked the country’s first ever sovereign debt which led to shortages of basic foodstuffs, medicines, fuel, LP gas, long queues around petrol sheds, rolling power cuts, an outbreak of lawlessness which in turn led to the violent overthrow of the then government. Today once again, the rupee is depreciating. more..

May 26 (ST) Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) has ordered the National Police Commission (NPC) to promote CID Director SSP Shani Abeysekara to the rank of DIG, effective from 25 Aug 2020. Mr Abeysekera, who was interdicted from the Police Dept in 2020 by the Gotabaya Rajapaksa administration, was reinstated in 2024. He appealed to the AAT on the ground he was subjected to political victimisation & denied his promotion. more..

May 26 (ST) Within days of each other, the leaders of the United States and Russia flew to Beijing while still embroiled in major wars of their own making with no end yet in sight and those conflicts having crippling impacts on the world. The optics of the two summits as well as their reported outcomes made clear that China stood at a leading place in the global reset needed to deal with prevailing crises on multiple fronts which need de-escalation and stabilisation. more..

May 26 (ST) My dear Wimal, I am writing to you after seeing footage of you running at first, faltering and then falling flat on your face after trying to place flowers at the memorial for fallen heroes last week. It was a most ungainly sight. It might be unkind to say so, but I daresay it looked quite funny too. You played cricket for Tissa Central in Kalutara but this performance suggests you would never make it to the rugby team. You got close to the memorial, inch by inch. more..