Publications

Exchange rate management: politics trumps professionalism

Most people in a country don’t understand the intricacies of exchange rate management. Nevertheless, actions in this regard have significant implications for the economic stability, growth and overall success of the economy, on which human development is fostered. This Insight explains how a professional approach to the management of the exchange rate seems to have been trumped by political considerations for much of 2015. The losses suffered by a lack of professionalism are not too different to the losses suffered due to corruption, and the lack of professionalism and corruption tend to be parasitic on each other. Therefore, this Insight also points to an important focus that has not yet been adopted by the agenda for good-governance.

Sri Lanka’s post war growth: Still stuck in an unsustainable strategy

Sri Lanka has been driving post-war growth in boom and bust cycles on the trade deficit; and fiscal measures have been used, especially spending on construction, to offset the bust cycles. This strategy is now being squeezed to pulp and it is not sustainable going forward.

CSO Sustainability Index 2015 Sri Lanka

The Civil Society Organization Sustainability Index (CSOSI) has been used since 1997 to assess the sustainability of the CSO sector. The Index has expanded considerably since its inception – it went from covering 18 countries in the Europe and Eurasia Region, to covering over 60 countries in different regions around the world. By using standard indicators and collecting data each year, the CSOSI enables users to track developments and identify trends in the CSO sector over time while allowing for cross-country and cross-region comparison. It is used by CSO advocates, development partners, and academics to assess international and regional trends in the civil society sector and to identify common obstacles impeding the sector’s sustainability, such as the legal environment, organizational capacity, and financial viability. This is the second time Sri Lanka is participating in the index. Verité Research is the local implementing partner for this initiative.

CSO Sustainability Index 2015 for Asia

The Civil Society Organization Sustainability Index (CSOSI) has been used since 1997 to assess the sustainability of the CSO sector. The Index has expanded considerably since its inception – it went from covering 18 countries in the Europe and Eurasia Region, to covering over 60 countries in different regions around the world. By using standard indicators and collecting data each year, the CSOSI enables users to track developments and identify trends in the CSO sector over time while allowing for cross-country and cross-region comparison. It is used by CSO advocates, development partners, and academics to assess international and regional trends in the civil society sector and to identify common obstacles impeding the sector’s sustainability, such as the legal environment, organizational capacity, and financial viability. This is the second time Sri Lanka is participating in the index. Verité Research is the local implementing partner for this initiative.

Improving Trade with India: Mutual Recognition in Conformity Assessment

“In the context of growing bilateral relations with India, this study by Verité Research takes a look at the current status of Sri Lankan exports to India under the existing India – Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (ISFTA). The study identifies Non-Tariff Barriers to be a critical factor in the lackluster performance of exports to India in recent years. The case of food exports serves to highlight how compliance with Indian standards and regulations forms one such significant barrier, due to India’s non-recognition of testing and certification conducted outside its borders. The proposed solution to this problem – a Mutual Recognition Agreement – is one that is easily implementablewhich will help exporters enjoy the full benefits of duty concessions offered by the ISFTA and if done right, will help build confidence in the benefits of further integration.”

Improving Trade with India: Mutual Recognition in Conformity Assessment (Tamil Edition)

“In the context of growing bilateral relations with India, this study by Verité Research takes a look at the current status of Sri Lankan exports to India under the existing India – Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (ISFTA). The study identifies Non-Tariff Barriers to be a critical factor in the lackluster performance of exports to India in recent years. The case of food exports serves to highlight how compliance with Indian standards and regulations forms one such significant barrier, due to India’s non-recognition of testing and certification conducted outside its borders. The proposed solution to this problem – a Mutual Recognition Agreement – is one that is easily implementablewhich will help exporters enjoy the full benefits of duty concessions offered by the ISFTA and if done right, will help build confidence in the benefits of further integration.”

අපනයන ප‍්‍රවර්ධනය සදහා අපනයන මුල්‍යකරණ පහසුකම්වල කාර්යභාරය සහ අදාළත්වය

මෙම සියවස ආරම්භයේ සිට ශී‍්‍ර ලංකාවේ අපනයන එහි දළ දේශීය නිශ්පාදිතයේ ප‍්‍රතිශතයක් ලෙස පමණක් නොව ගෝලීය අපනයනවල ප‍්‍රතිශතයක් ලෙස ද, පහත වැටී තිබේ. නිදහස ලැබුණු වකවානුවේ දී, වර්තමානයට වඩා ඉහළ ගෝලීය වෙළදපොළ කොටසක් අත්කර ගැනීමට ශී‍්‍ර ලංකාවට හැකිව තිබුණි. මෙම අධ්‍යනය ශී‍්‍ර ලංකාව මෙතෙක් කල් මුහුණපා ඇති බාධක මැඩපැවැත්වීමට සහයෝගයක් ලබාදිය හැකි ප‍්‍රතිපත්ති යෝජනා හදුනාගැනීමට දරණ ප‍්‍රයත්නයකි.  

ඉලෙක්ට්‍රොනික අත්සන් සහිත ඉලෙක්ට්‍රොනික ලේඛන පිළිගැනීම

Maintaining Democratic Space in the Public Sphere: A Strategy for Sri Lankan Civil Society

Over the years, the nature and extent of civil society space has been determined by the policies and ideologies dominant in the political sphere. Accordingly, transitions of power have been accompanied by radical transformations of civil society space. In this context, a critical question arises: is it possible for CSOs advancing liberal and democratic ends to maintain their space notwithstanding political transitions? Verité’s recent study sought to identify the driving factors that determine the sustainability of democratic space within which CSOs operate in Sri Lanka, and present a strategic view on how this space can be sustainably maintained and expanded in the future, notwithstanding political transitions.

Reviving Exports: The Relevance of Export Finance

This Insight analyses the importance of export finance as a tool to facilitate and promote exports in Sri Lanka. It identifies the bottlenecks that prevent effective use of export finance in the country and provides recommendations to improve availability, access and effective utilisation of export finance in the country.