Oct 7 (FT) World Bank upgraded its outlook for SL, raising its 2026 growth forecast to 4.4% from 3.6% in April, but warned that the recovery remains uneven, with poverty above pre-crisis levels and real wages still about 12% below 2019. Latest in the Bank’s twice-yearly SL Development Update, titled From Recovery to Transformation, projects growth easing to 4.2% in 2027 and 4% in 2028 as the post-crisis rebound fades and growth more..

Oct 7 (DM) SL has imported more than 800,000 vehicles worth around USD 3.8 billion since vehicle import restrictions were lifted in 2024, Deputy Minister Nishantha Jayaweera said. Letters of Credit (LCs) amounting to USD 1.9 billion were opened during 2024 and 2025, while LCs worth USD 1.69 billion had been opened in 2026. More than 79,000 cars, 12,000 commercial vehicles, 3,148 buses and vans, 317,000 motorcycles and 40,000 three-wheelers have been imported so far this year. more..

Oct 7 (Island) BBS General Secretary Ven. Galagodaatte Gnanasara Thera, who has been ordered by the court to serve the remainder of his prison sentence, is to be assigned to the prison printing work party, prison officials said yesterday. Monk was produced before Colombo HC yesterday by prison officials in connection with a warrant issued by the court. He appeared before the court in civilian attire. Prison sources said arrangements were being finalised for his detention more..

Oct 7 (TM) Govt has moved to prevent further fuel shortages by instructing private fuel distributors to maintain uninterrupted supplies and minimum fuel stocks, as reduced deliveries by three companies have triggered queues at filling stations across the country. Minister Anura Karunathilaka said Ministry Secretary was expected to issue a written notification to the relevant companies yesterday, directing them to ensure more..

Oct 7 (FT) The Govt had spent only 16.7% of its 2026 capital Budget and about 8% of the Rs. 500 billion allocated for Cyclone Ditwah reconstruction by mid-year, World Bank said yesterday. It attributed the shortfall to weak public investment management rather than a lack of funds. In its Sri Lanka Development Update, the Bank said the under-execution reflects weaknesses in project selection, procurement and implementation capacity, rather than financing constraints. more..

Oct 7 (FT) Poverty in SL is recovering but remains above pre-crisis levels, the World Bank said. It projected a gradual decline to 14% by 2028, which would still leave the rate above 2019, and warned that the recovery is uneven across the country. In its October SL Development Update, the Bank estimated poverty at 16.9% in 2025, measured at the $ 4.20-a-day line for lower middle-income countries. That is down from a crisis peak of 20.7% in 2023 but above the 11.5% of 2019. more..

Oct 7 (NW) Prisons Commissioner Senaka Pallathtenna says any person sentenced to more than three years in prison must be produced before court wearing clothing issued by the Dept of Prisons, in accordance with prison regulations. He made the clarification amid various views circulating on social media regarding the clothing worn by prisoners being produced before courts. Pallathtenna said that under prison regulations, a Buddhist monk sentenced to simple imprisonment more..

Oct 7 (FT) As part of World Investor Week (WIW) 2026, Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) and Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) joined stock exchanges around the world in ringing the market opening bell for financial literacy on 5 Oct, under the patronage of PM Harini Amarasuriya. World Investor Week is an annual global campaign led by the Int'l Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) to raise awareness of the importance of investor education and investor protection. more..

Oct 7 (TM) Fuel prices are likely to remain unchanged for the next three months, with the CPC assuring that adequate stocks and additional imports are in place to prevent a major disruption to supplies. CPC Chairperson D J Rajakaruna said that fuel prices would remain at their current levels until the end of this month, with no immediate increase expected. He said the country should be able to maintain the current fuel prices and more..

Oct 7 (DN) SL Para Athletes are confident of performing well at the 5th Asian Para Games Archi- Nagoya, Japan which will be worked off from October 18 to 24. Manager of the SL Para Athletic team Deepal Herath who was the former National Paralympic Committee President said; “we have brought 11 medals at the last Asian Para Games in Hangzhou China in 2023 and this time we are focused to improve our number of medals in Japan. As usual we are expecting more medals more..

Oct 7 (NW) The Cabinet has approved new regulations aimed at establishing a formal mechanism to regulate livelihood activities of indigenous communities in designated areas while protecting their rights recognised under law, custom, usage and traditional practices. The Wildlife and Flora (Regulation of Activities of Indigenous Peoples in Designated Areas) Regulations have been formulated under the Wildlife and Flora Protection Ordinance (Chapter 469). more..

Oct 7 (NW) Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has raised concerns over jailed BBS General Secretary Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera being brought before court in civilian clothes, calling on the govt to respect religious traditions and the dignity of the Buddhist robe. Premadasa said courts operate within a legal framework and cannot go beyond those limits, but argued that govts must also act sensitively towards social traditions, conventions & cultural identities. more..

Oct 7 (NW) PM Harini Amarasuriya, reaffirmed the govt’s commitment to safeguarding the dignity, welfare and professional rights of teachers, announcing plans to recruit over 23,000 new graduates into the national teaching service. Addressing the Guru Pratibha Prabha – 2026 National Teacher & Principal Commendation Ceremony at Ananda College, Colombo, to mark World Teachers’ Day on Oct 6, PM outlined key state initiatives aimed at resolving long standing more..

Oct 7 (FT) SJB MP Harsha de Silva yesterday urged the Govt to buy back part of SL’s Macro-Linked Bonds (MLBs) before markets reprice them, claiming proactive action could save the country $ 300 million to $ 400 million over the next decade. MLBs, issued under the 2024 sovereign debt restructuring, tie repayments to economic performance, so that bondholders recover more if GDP growth exceeds the IMF baseline. more..

Oct 7 (NW) Police have provided further details regarding a video circulating on social media showing officers from the Walipenna Police Station searching a house in the area. According to Police, the search was carried out following several complaints received on October 3, 2026, concerning an alleged incident in which two individuals and several others had allegedly assaulted people at another residence while displaying sharp weapons and issuing death threats. more..

Oct 7 (NW) A bank officer accused of helping BBS General Secretary Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera evade arrest while warrants had been issued against him by three courts has been remanded until Oct 9. Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama issued the order after the bank officer, a resident of the Kelaniya area, was arrested and produced before court by Colombo Crimes Division (CCD). CCD told court that the suspect had allegedly transported Thera in his vehicle more..

Oct 7 (ST) The implementation of SL’s 2026 Budget proposals reflects a period focused on transitioning from post-crisis stability toward infrastructure revival, though it faces a slower pace of development spending. This process under the Ministry of Finance has been strictly bound by the fiscal rules of the Public Finance Management Act No. 44 of 2024, aiming for a primary surplus of 2.3-2.5% of GDP. Secretary to the Treasury and Ministry of Finance, Harshana Suriyapperuma, has stated that more..

Oct 7 (ST) Dept of Immigration and Emigration will procure another 500,000 ordinary machine-readable passports to tide it over until the govt finally introduces e-passports. Last month, the department floated a tender for a national e-passport public key infrastructure (PKI) solution. Tender included passport personalisation, whereby personal details are entered into the data page, and integration with Int'l Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) public key directory (PKD). more..

Oct 7 (ST) Sports Minister will no longer have the power to directly appoint SL’s national cricket selectors under the proposed new Sri Lanka Cricket Bill, with that responsibility being transferred to the SLC Board. The Bill, gazetted this week, provides for the SLC Board to appoint both the National Men’s Selection Committee and National Women’s Selection Committee. This marks a major change from the system that has more..

Oct 7 (FT) National Co-operative Exports Limited (NCEL), India, and the Sri Lanka Consumer Co-operative Societies Federation Ltd (COOPFED) have signed a MoU in Colombo today to strengthen cooperation in the supply of essential commodities, food security and cooperative development. The MoU was signed by NCEL Managing Director Unupom Kausik and COOPFED Chairman Dr. Shantha Jayarathne in the presence of Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe and Indian HC more..

Oct 7 (FT) SL Export Development Board (EDB), operating under the Industry and Entrepreneurship Development Ministry, conducted a SME Awareness Creation Forum at the Trincomalee District Secretariat on 1 Oct 2026. Forum aimed to support and develop regional small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs with export potential in the Trincomalee District of Eastern Province. Program comprised three main components; an awareness creation seminar, a mini exhibition more..

Oct 7 (HRW) SL govt’s latest attempt to replace its abusive PTA retains numerous provisions that have enabled serious human rights violations, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. Proposed Protection of the State from Terrorism Bill (PSTB), which will be sent to Parliament on Oct 6, includes an overbroad definition of terrorism, inadequate judicial oversight, sweeping powers of search and arrest for the armed forces, more..

Oct 7 (Island) The membership-based electoral structure should provide representation without becoming a substitute for executive management. The seven Elected Directors would bring the perspectives of the SLC membership into the Board, while the seven Independent Directors would provide additional professional expertise and independence. The model’s effectiveness will, therefore, depend on whether the Board can integrate these perspectives into coherent more..

Oct 7 (Island) Fuel queues have returned, with long lines of vehicles reported at filling stations in many parts of the country. Foreign companies engaged in fuel trade have reportedly curtailed supplies, claiming that they are incurring substantial losses as fuel prices determined by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) are not sufficient to cover their costs despite a 70-rupee diesel subsidy. The govt appears to be watching helplessly while fuel queues are lengthening. more..

Oct 7 (GV) Tisaranee Gunasekara, in her article in Groundviews, Land Mining Sri Lanka in Vadunnagala, says that Pallegama Hemarathana Thero, who is accused of child rape and no longer the Atamasthanadhipati, gifted a Sri Maha Bodhi sapling to me that I planted it in Vadunnagala archaeological site in the Northern Province, which is being promoted via social media as the next battle field between Sinhala Buddhists and Tamil Hindus. She says that Galgamuve Shanthibodhi more..

Oct 7 (TM) Some years ago, in a village temple in the Kandyan hills, I asked the incumbent whether anything old from his teacher had been kept. He thought about it, found a key, and opened an almirah in a side room. Inside were brass lamps, a silver betel box, a folded length of cloth that had clearly once been fine, and a small reliquary that I would guess, though only guess, to be 19th century. I asked who had given them. He said his teacher would have known. more..

Oct 7 (TM) SL’s Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) sector handles billions of rupees each year, much of it directed towards development, humanitarian assistance, poverty alleviation, education, health, human rights, and other social programmes. The scale alone makes the case for financial accountability difficult to dispute. Official figures published by the National Secretariat for NGOs show a reported NGO fund inflow more..

Oct 7 (ST) All the trouble and the untold efforts taken these past two years to build a rich nation and a beautiful life on cloud nine for the people of this country may come to naught if the bleak economic scenario – as painted in a damning US report on SL’s economic prospects for the year ahead – comes to pass. While US State Dept’s annual report on SL explicitly acknowledges that SL’s economy grew by 5%, exceeding expectations, and credits NPP govt for maintaining political stability, more..

Oct 7 (DM) NPP govt is facing a serious dilemma in keeping some of its pledges to the people given during the last Prez and Parliamentary elections. The reason could be argued both ways -- insincerity as well as circumstantial pressure, based on one’s political affiliation. One important acid test for the govt is to adopt a new constitution replacing the current one, while another is replacing the current PTA with another anti-terrorism Act that could be acceptable to the int'l community. more..

Oct 7 (SO) SL entered 2025 with a national objective of eliminating child labour, but a senior official of the Dept of Labour has confirmed that the Dept’s report corresponding to 2025 has not yet been prepared. The absence of the 2025 report means that the latest available annual performance data from Dept of Labour currently cover the period up to 2024. These reports record thousands of inspections, investigations into complaints more..

Oct 7 (DM) The dynamics of political change across countries are undergoing changes. Political change is no longer brought about only by elections involving conventional political parties and established leaders, but by agitations and street actions by Gen Z. A Gen Z grouping is an inchoate, unorganised, and spontaneously formed group surfacing in response to the emergence of intolerable conditions in the social, economic or political environment. more..

Oct 7 (CT) Public attention is currently focused on a humanitarian issue involving the provision of essential food ,water and other humanitarian assistance to Iranian naval vessels within Sri Lanka’s maritime zone. There is a fundamental question that we should ask whenever sanctions, int'l restrictions or political considerations arise in relation to persons in distress at sea: A person who is drowning cannot first be asked about his nationality, political affiliation or more..