Features

A citizen’s understanding of the current economic crisis and the IMF programme

Published

3 years ago

2023/04/23

Thilina Walpola

by Dhammike Amarasinghe

Synopsis

The current economic crisis is not something brought about solely by corruption in high places or some recent policy mistakes of the Gotabaya administration. While those matters certainly did exacerbate the situation, the crisis itself has been long coming.

Two features of our economic situation that needs to be noted are: 1. Government expenditure has been persistently in excess of its revenue, 2. Imports have also been persistently above exports. Both together indicate that persistently we have been living beyond our means. It is time to make corrections.

The immediate problem was the drying up of foreign exchange reserves resulting in our having to default our foreign debts and not being able to import essentials. The IMF programme is only a helping hand to get out of that crisis. We need to put our house in order by implementing the various action points we have agreed with the IMF to execute, while using the IMF money (and other donor assistance it might trigger)to meet part of our external fund needs as well as some part of domestic fund requirements, until we can again stand on our feet.

However, this ‘firefighting exercise’ will have to be followed up with a longer term reform agenda, if we are to set ourselves on the path to prosperity. Two items of the IMF programme that are not often highlighted are 1. the Social Safety Net for the impoverished and the anti-corruption agenda.

It is essential for all citizens to have a correct understanding of the current economic crisis and the programme of action agreed to with the IMF, because in the unprecedented crisis that we are steeped in, the solution of the problem or problems depends very much on citizen support – support, NOT for any individual or party, but for a course of action that is likely to lead to a solution. It is no time for political games. Emotional rhetoric has to be ignored. What is at stake is – without exaggeration – the future of our people including generations to come. And not whether some individual (that one may happen to dislike) will get credit or whether some party wins the next election. That would be an extremely foolish attitude. This is a make or break situation.

Educating the public on such issues is actually the responsibility of the expert. However I have not seen yet a comprehensive all-embracing survey of the current situation – from its beginnings, intended for the layman, written by any expert, What we have seen are expert analyses of particular aspects of the situation, not always fully understandable by the ordinary person. I am no expert. However, I shall try to set down my understanding of these matters, acquired from reading the relevant documents and the analyses of experts. (I intend to do this in Sinhala later) Some knowledge of the basics of economics acquired many years ago at the university did help. Assisting ones compatriots as best as one can, to understand the crisis and what needs doing to overcome it, is I think a civic duty. Experts are welcome to make any corrections necessary.

At the outset itself, I must say that the first point in my understanding of the current situation is that it has been long in coming, only accelerated by some incorrect policy decisions made by the Gotabaya administration. My understanding is also that although corruption in high places has exacerbated matters, it is not the root cause of the present malaise. I shall also try to show that corruption may not be limited to the stealing, misappropriation or misuse of public funds in various ways by the high-ups and others but also includes, according to some people, a certain feature of day to day normal commercial practice. I shall elaborate on this in due course.

The Immediate Problem

To take the immediate problem first, before going on to the root cause: that problem is our inability to repay our public debt (i.e the debt of the government and government entities) to various creditors, owing to the fact that we do not have the foreign exchange to make those payments. Apart from our inability to settle our foreign debt, the inadequacy of foreign exchange also resulted in our inability to import many essentials like medicine, some food items, fuel, and cooking gas – although the situation has now eased somewhat. We have survived so far only because of the helping hand given by our friendly neighbours. Why we came to such a pass is the root cause of the crisis that we need to explore at the end

The foreign debts are owed by us to (a) various muti-lateral agencies like the IMF, World Bank and ADB (b) various foreign governments such as those of India, China, Japan, Iran, Hungary and (c) to holders of bonds ( meaning acknowledgments of our borrowings) issued by the government and referred to as International Sovereign Bonds or ISBs). These are borrowings made in the international bond market. While the vast majority of these bond holders are foreign investors, there are some locals like local banks and funds like the EPF and ETF who also hold them. In addition, these locals have also lent to the government in local currency by way of Treasury Bills and Treasury Bonds. The Central Bank itself is a large holder of these Treasury Bills and Treasury Bonds. This matter of local creditors has complicated matters, as will be clarified later. Our total debts are in excess of US $ 50 billion (different figures are given from time to time based on differing definitions and categorizations but it is safe to say that it is over $ 50 billion, just to indicate its huge proportions).

By April last year (2022) the authorities belatedly recognized officially that we do not have sufficient foreign exchange to repay the loan installments and interest payments that were falling due. Realization of this dire situation should have dawned on those concerned much earlier, but for some unknown reason the authorities at the time fought shy of recognizing it. Anyway, in April last year, we officially declared to the world that we are unable to repay our external debt as it falls due and that we need to re-structure it. However, our repayments due to the multilateral organizations like the World Bank were exempted since the international practice is that such repayments are normally exempted from default declarations. Our debt repayments to foreign governments and ISB holders stand suspended at present.

IMF loan and IMF programme

We then applied to the IMF for a loan to enable us to get out of this situation, that is, to re-instate ourselves to a position that will enable us to again start repaying our debts ( referred to technically as ‘ regaining debt sustainability’) It is essential to understand this point well. The IMF facility was NOT meant to be a loan to develop the country. It was solely for the purpose of getting out of the hole that we had stupidly dug for ourselves, So people who are now shouting from public platforms ” We can’t develop the country through IMF loans” are simply talking through their non-existent hats! It was never meant to be so.

The strategy to be adapted is to request our creditors to agree to ‘re-structure’ our loans (to be explained) and for the IMF to lend us funds, partly to make essential external payments and partly to support the local budget, to tide over the period that it takes us to put our house in order. In order to lend funds to us, IMF insists on our following a mutually agreed course of action (usually referred to as ‘conditionalities’), to ensure that we will not again go and dig ourselves a pit and fall therein. Isn’t that reasonable?

To explain the ‘re-structuring of loans’: It can take one of three forms or some combination of them. 1. To allow the loan to be repaid over a longer period after an initial postponement 2. To reduce the rate of interest 3. To reduce the amount owed (referred to generally as a ‘hair cut’)

The IMF will give us this loan (roughly equivalent to US $ three billion) over a period of four years, in installments, depending on our implementing the agreed course of action. One of the key elements of this course of action is our undertaking to pursue negotiations with our creditors to re-structure our debt. We have to do that and not the IMF. Assurances have already been given by our creditors that they will co-operate with us in that process (India, China, Japan and some other countries and an ad-hoc organization of some of our International Sovereign Bond holders have been good enough to give those assurance to the IMF and to us. It must also be noted that our involvement with the IMF also gives these creditors an assurance about our conduct and our future capacity to re-pay them. In other words, our agreement with the IMF has given us some degree of respectability in the international financial scene.

IMF Conditionalities

It is necessary now to consider what the other IMF conditionalities are (We should remind ourselves that these conditionalities are what we have agreed to, in a lengthy process of negotiations that our authorities had with an IMF team. There would have been give and take during that process. For instance it transpired recently that at one point the IMF suggested that the tax free level of personal income be fixed at Rs. 43,000 per month, before the present Rs, 100,000 was finally agreed to. Admittedly of course our bargaining position was weak because of the mess we had created for ourselves.

As a background to the consideration of the conditionalities, it is necessary to first take note of a certain feature of our government’s budget. In the 2023 Budget (before the new tax proposals came into effect) the total government revenue was estimated at Rs. 3,456 billion while the total expenditure was to be Rs. 7,879 billion. So, there was a deficit of Rs. 4,422 billion (more than even the revenue itself). Even if we take out the capital expenditure in the budget estimates and take the recurrent expenditure only (salaries, pensions, other office expenditure, social welfare expenditure and debt servicing – i.e. without providing for building new hospitals, schools, roads etc.) it amounted to Rs.4,634 billion, still Rs,1,178 billion in excess of revenue. The payment of salaries, other administrative expenditure, pensions, and servicing of past debt alone accounted for 142% of the revenue. We must wonder how a country can run like that. Is it any wonder that we are in this mess and in debt?

At this point we need also to realize that there is not much scope for reduction of recurrent expenditure because the bulk of it consists of salaries, pensions, social welfare expenditure, repayment of debt to the banking system etc. (The World Bank in its latest ‘Sri Lanka Development Update 2023’ says: “At less than 20% of GDP, Sri Lanka’s expenditures are not high by international standards” thus underlining further the point that the solution to the budgetary problem lies more in the direction of revenue enhancement rather than in expenditure reduction, contrary to popular perceptions. However it is true that in a correct ordering of priorities we must refrain from completely ludicrous expenditures such as those on grandiose Independence celebrations, with tanks and all (!), in a country steeped in debt.

There was therefore a need for increasing government revenue. That is the rationale for increasing taxes. In addition to the income tax already imposed there will be a property tax and a gift and inheritance tax to be introduced by 2025, a tax that will fall on the top bracket of the really wealthy and not likely on wage earners and the majority of professionals. True enough, the new taxes are quite burdensome in the context of the general increase in the cost of living. It is hoped that the authorities will consider adjustments. However any such adjustments will be feasible only within the framework of various financial targets that the IMF programme has set, in order to achieve financial solvency within a reasonable time period.

For instance, it is required that the government Budget upgrades itself from its eternal deficit position (i.e expenditure exceeding revenue year after year resulting in the government getting more and more into debt) and attains a surplus of 0.8 % of GDP in 2024. increasing it to 2.3% in 2025 and beyond (this is what is called a primary surplus which does not take debt repayments into account) Any deviation from these carefully set down targets will only prolong the agony and condemn us to continue suffering in the long term.

Although as pointed out earlier there is not much scope for reducing government expenditure, the government is obliged under the IMF programme, at least to keep to the present level of expenditure. Thus it has some space only to make less than full compensation for inflation in respect of salaries and pensions. Anyway, in respect of other aspects of government administration most citizen are well aware that there is much scope for reducing inefficiencies, wastage and acts of corruption, leading not only to reductions in expenditure but to increased efficiency in delivery of services. In this connection one hopes that the government will embark on a full scale modernization and rationalization of its institutions and systems and procedures. In this endeavour it needs to allow for the introduction of digitization in a big way.

(To be continued)

(After a long public service career the writer retired in 1998 as Additional Secretary to President Chandrika Kumaratunga. He has served post-retirement as Chairman of the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation and was an Advisor to President Mahinda Rajapaksa from 2005 to 2015)

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Features

More state support needed for marginalised communities

Published

2 days ago

2026/02/13

Thilina Walpola

A landslide in the Central Province

Message from Malaiyaha Tamil community to govt:

Insights from SSA Cyclone Ditwah Survey

When climate disasters strike, they don’t affect everyone equally. Marginalised communities typically face worse outcomes, and Cyclone Ditwah is no exception. Especially in a context where normalcy is far from “normal”, the idea of returning to normalcy or restoring a life of normalcy makes very little sense.

The island-wide survey (https://ssalanka.org/reports/) conducted by the Social Scientists’ Association (SSA), between early to mid-January on Cyclone Ditwah shows stark regional disparities in how satisfied or dissatisfied people were with the government’s response. While national satisfaction levels were relatively high in most provinces, the Central Province tells a different story.

Only 35.2% of Central Province residents reported that they were satisfied with early warning and evacuation measures, compared to 52.2% nationally. The gap continues across every measure: just 52.9% were satisfied with immediate rescue and emergency response, compared with the national figure of 74.6%. Satisfaction with relief distribution in the Central Province is 51.9% while the national figure stands at 73.1%. The figures for restoration of water, electricity, and roads are at a low 45.9% in the central province compared to the 70.9% in national figures. Similarly, the satisfaction level for recovery and rebuilding support is 48.7% in the Central Province, while the national figure is 67.0%.

A deeper analysis of the SSA data on public perceptions reveals something important: these lower satisfaction rates came primarily from the Malaiyaha Tamil population. Their experience differed not just from other provinces, but also from other ethnic groups living in the Central Province itself.

The Malaiyaha Tamil community’s vulnerability didn’t start with the cyclone. Their vulnerability is a historically and structurally pre-determined process of exclusion and marginalisation. Brought to Sri Lanka during British rule to work for the empire’s plantation economies, they have faced long-term economic exploitation and have repeatedly been denied access to state support and social welfare systems. Most estate residents still live in ‘line rooms’ and have no rights to the land they cultivate and live on. The community continues to be governed by an outdated estate management system that acts as a barrier to accessing public and municipal services such as road repair, water, electricity and other basic infrastructures available to other citizens.

As far as access to improved water sources is concerned, the Sri Lanka Demographic Health Survey (2016) shows that 57% of estate sector households don’t have access to improved water sources, while more than 90% of households in urban and rural areas do. With regard to the level of poverty, as the Department of Census and Statistics (2019) data reveals, the estate sector where most Malaiyaha Tamils live had a poverty headcount index of 33.8%; more than double the national rate of 14.3%. These statistics highlight key indicators of the systemic discrimination faced by the Malaiyaha Tamil community.

Some crucial observations from the SSA data collectors who enumerated responses from estate residents in the survey reveal the specific challenges faced by the Malaiyaha Tamils, particularly in their efforts to seek state support for compensation and reconstruction.

First, the Central Province experienced not just flooding but also the highest number of landslides in the island. As a result, some residents in the region lost entire homes, access roadways, and other basic infrastructures. The loss of lives, livelihoods and land was at a higher intensity compared to the provinces not located in the hills. Most importantly, the Malaiyaha Tamil community’s pre-existing grievances made them even more vulnerable and the government’s job of reparation and restitution more complex.

Early warnings hadn’t reached many areas. Some data collectors said they themselves never heard any warnings in estate areas, while others mentioned that early warnings were issued but didn’t reach some segments of the community. According to the resident data collectors, the police announcements reached only as far as the sections where they were able to drive their vehicles to, and there were many estate roads that were not motorable. When warnings did filter through to remote locations, they often came by word of mouth and information was distorted along the way. Once the disaster hit, things got worse: roads were blocked, electricity went out, mobile networks failed and people were cut off completely.

Emergency response was slow. Blocked roads meant people could not get to hospitals when they needed urgent care, including pregnant mothers. The difficult terrain and poor road conditions meant rescue teams took much longer to reach affected areas than in other regions.

Relief supplies didn’t reach everyone. The Grama Niladhari divisions in these areas are huge and hard to navigate, making it difficult for Grama Niladharis to reach all places as urgently as needed. Relief workers distributed supplies where vehicles could go, which meant accessible areas got help while remote communities were left out.

Some people didn’t even try to go to safety centres or evacuation shelters set up in local schools because the facilities there were already so poor. The perceptions of people who did go to safety centres, as shown in the provincial data, reveal that satisfaction was low compared to other affected regions of the country. Less than half were satisfied with space and facilities (42.1%) or security and protection (45.0%). Satisfaction was even lower for assistance with lost or damaged documentation (17.9%) and information and support for compensation applications (28.2%). Only 22.5% were satisfied with medical care and health services below most other affected regions.

Restoring services proved nearly impossible in some areas. Road access was the biggest problem. The condition of the roads was already poor even before the cyclone, and some still haven’t been cleared. Recovery is especially difficult because there’s no decent baseline infrastructure to restore, hence you can’t bring roads and other public facilities back to a “good” condition when they were never good, even before the disaster.

Water systems faced their own complications. Many households get water from natural sources or small community projects, and not the centralised state system. These sources are often in the middle of the disaster zone and therefore got contaminated during the floods and landslides.

Long-term recovery remains stalled. Without basic infrastructure, areas that are still hard to reach keep struggling to get the support they need for rebuilding.

Taken together, what do these testaments mean? Disaster response can’t be the same for everyone. The Malaiyaha Tamil community has been double marginalised because they were already living with structural inequalities such as poor infrastructure, geographic isolation, and inadequate services which have been exacerbated by Cyclone Ditwah. An effective and fair disaster response needs to account for these underlying vulnerabilities. It requires interventions tailored to the historical, economic, and infrastructural realities that marginalized communities face every day. On top of that, it highlights the importance of dealing with climate disasters, given the fact that vulnerable communities could face more devastating impacts compared to others.

(Shashik Silva is a researcher with the Social Scientists’ Association of Sri Lanka)

by Shashik Silva ✍️

Features

Crucial test for religious and ethnic harmony in Bangladesh

Published

3 days ago

2026/02/12

Sahan Weerasooriya

A political protest that led to governmental change in Bangladesh mid last year. (photograph: imago)

Will the Bangladesh parliamentary election bring into being a government that will ensure ethnic and religious harmony in the country? This is the poser on the lips of peace-loving sections in Bangladesh and a principal concern of those outside who mean the country well.

The apprehensions are mainly on the part of religious and ethnic minorities. The parliamentary poll of February 12th is expected to bring into existence a government headed by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Islamist oriented Jamaat-e-Islami party and this is where the rub is. If these parties win, will it be a case of Bangladesh sliding in the direction of a theocracy or a state where majoritarian chauvinism thrives?

Chief of the Jamaat, Shafiqur Rahman, who was interviewed by sections of the international media recently said that there is no need for minority groups in Bangladesh to have the above fears. He assured, essentially, that the state that will come into being will be equable and inclusive. May it be so, is likely to be the wish of those who cherish a tension-free Bangladesh.

The party that could have posed a challenge to the above parties, the Awami League Party of former Prime Minister Hasina Wased, is out of the running on account of a suspension that was imposed on it by the authorities and the mentioned majoritarian-oriented parties are expected to have it easy at the polls.

A positive that has emerged against the backdrop of the poll is that most ordinary people in Bangladesh, be they Muslim or Hindu, are for communal and religious harmony and it is hoped that this sentiment will strongly prevail, going ahead. Interestingly, most of them were of the view, when interviewed, that it was the politicians who sowed the seeds of discord in the country and this viewpoint is widely shared by publics all over the region in respect of the politicians of their countries.

Some sections of the Jamaat party were of the view that matters with regard to the orientation of governance are best left to the incoming parliament to decide on but such opinions will be cold comfort for minority groups. If the parliamentary majority comes to consist of hard line Islamists, for instance, there is nothing to prevent the country from going in for theocratic governance. Consequently, minority group fears over their safety and protection cannot be prevented from spreading.

Therefore, we come back to the question of just and fair governance and whether Bangladesh’s future rulers could ensure these essential conditions of democratic rule. The latter, it is hoped, will be sufficiently perceptive to ascertain that a Bangladesh rife with religious and ethnic tensions, and therefore unstable, would not be in the interests of Bangladesh and those of the region’s countries.

Unfortunately, politicians region-wide fall for the lure of ethnic, religious and linguistic chauvinism. This happens even in the case of politicians who claim to be democratic in orientation. This fate even befell Bangladesh’s Awami League Party, which claims to be democratic and socialist in general outlook.

We have it on the authority of Taslima Nasrin in her ground-breaking novel, ‘Lajja’, that the Awami Party was not of any substantial help to Bangladesh’s Hindus, for example, when violence was unleashed on them by sections of the majority community. In fact some elements in the Awami Party were found to be siding with the Hindus’ murderous persecutors. Such are the temptations of hard line majoritarianism.

In Sri Lanka’s past numerous have been the occasions when even self-professed Leftists and their parties have conveniently fallen in line with Southern nationalist groups with self-interest in mind. The present NPP government in Sri Lanka has been waxing lyrical about fostering national reconciliation and harmony but it is yet to prove its worthiness on this score in practice. The NPP government remains untested material.

As a first step towards national reconciliation it is hoped that Sri Lanka’s present rulers would learn the Tamil language and address the people of the North and East of the country in Tamil and not Sinhala, which most Tamil-speaking people do not understand. We earnestly await official language reforms which afford to Tamil the dignity it deserves.

An acid test awaits Bangladesh as well on the nation-building front. Not only must all forms of chauvinism be shunned by the incoming rulers but a secular, truly democratic Bangladesh awaits being licked into shape. All identity barriers among people need to be abolished and it is this process that is referred to as nation-building.

On the foreign policy frontier, a task of foremost importance for Bangladesh is the need to build bridges of amity with India. If pragmatism is to rule the roost in foreign policy formulation, Bangladesh would place priority to the overcoming of this challenge. The repatriation to Bangladesh of ex-Prime Minister Hasina could emerge as a steep hurdle to bilateral accord but sagacious diplomacy must be used by Bangladesh to get over the problem.

A reply to N.A. de S. Amaratunga

A response has been penned by N.A. de S. Amaratunga (please see p5 of ‘The Island’ of February 6th) to a previous column by me on ‘ India shaping-up as a Swing State’, published in this newspaper on January 29th , but I remain firmly convinced that India remains a foremost democracy and a Swing State in the making.

If the countries of South Asia are to effectively manage ‘murderous terrorism’, particularly of the separatist kind, then they would do well to adopt to the best of their ability a system of government that provides for power decentralization from the centre to the provinces or periphery, as the case may be. This system has stood India in good stead and ought to prove effective in all other states that have fears of disintegration.

Moreover, power decentralization ensures that all communities within a country enjoy some self-governing rights within an overall unitary governance framework. Such power-sharing is a hallmark of democratic governance.

Features

Celebrating Valentine’s Day …

Published

3 days ago

2026/02/12

Sahan Weerasooriya

Valentine’s Day is all about celebrating love, romance, and affection, and this is how some of our well-known personalities plan to celebrate Valentine’s Day – 14th February:

Merlina Fernando (Singer)

Yes, it’s a special day for lovers all over the world and it’s even more special to me because 14th February is the birthday of my husband Suresh, who’s the lead guitarist of my band Mission.

We have planned to celebrate Valentine’s Day and his Birthday together and it will be a wonderful night as always.

We will be having our fans and close friends, on that night, with their loved ones at Highso – City Max hotel Dubai, from 9.00 pm onwards.

Lorensz Francke (Elvis Tribute Artiste)

On Valentine’s Day I will be performing a live concert at a Wealthy Senior Home for Men and Women, and their families will be attending, as well.

I will be performing live with romantic, iconic love songs and my song list would include ‘Can’t Help falling in Love’, ‘Love Me Tender’, ‘Burning Love’, ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight’, ‘The Wonder of You’ and ‘’It’s Now or Never’ to name a few.

To make Valentine’s Day extra special I will give the Home folks red satin scarfs.

Emma Shanaya (Singer)

I plan on spending the day of love with my girls, especially my best friend. I don’t have a romantic Valentine this year but I am thrilled to spend it with the girl that loves me through and through. I’ll be in Colombo and look forward to go to a cute cafe and spend some quality time with my childhood best friend Zulha.

JAYASRI

Emma-and-Maneeka

This Valentine’s Day the band JAYASRI we will be really busy; in the morning we will be landing in Sri Lanka, after our Oman Tour; then in the afternoon we are invited as Chief Guests at our Maris Stella College Sports Meet, Negombo, and late night we will be with LineOne band live in Karandeniya Open Air Down South. Everywhere we will be sharing LOVE with the mass crowds.

Kay Jay (Singer)

I will stay at home and cook a lovely meal for lunch, watch some movies, together with Sanjaya, and, maybe we go out for dinner and have a lovely time. Come to think of it, every day is Valentine’s Day for me with Sanjaya Alles.

Maneka Liyanage (Beauty Tips)

On this special day, I celebrate love by spending meaningful time with the people I cherish. I prepare food with love and share meals together, because food made with love brings hearts closer. I enjoy my leisure time with them — talking, laughing, sharing stories, understanding each other, and creating beautiful memories. My wish for this Valentine’s Day is a world without fighting — a world where we love one another like our own beloved, where we do not hurt others, even through a single word or action. Let us choose kindness, patience, and understanding in everything we do.

Janaka Palapathwala (Singer)

Janaka

Valentine’s Day should not be the only day we speak about love.

From the moment we are born into this world, we seek love, first through the very drop of our mother’s milk, then through the boundless care of our Mother and Father, and the embrace of family.

Love is everywhere. All living beings, even plants, respond in affection when they are loved.

As we grow, we learn to love, and to be loved. One day, that love inspires us to build a new family of our own.

Love has no beginning and no end. It flows through every stage of life, timeless, endless, and eternal.

Natasha Rathnayake (Singer)

We don’t have any special plans for Valentine’s Day. When you’ve been in love with the same person for over 25 years, you realise that love isn’t a performance reserved for one calendar date. My husband and I have never been big on public displays, or grand gestures, on 14th February. Our love is expressed quietly and consistently, in ordinary, uncelebrated moments.

With time, you learn that love isn’t about proving anything to the world or buying into a commercialised idea of romance—flowers that wilt, sweets that spike blood sugar, and gifts that impress briefly but add little real value. In today’s society, marketing often pushes the idea that love is proven by how much money you spend, and that buying things is treated as a sign of commitment.

Real love doesn’t need reminders or price tags. It lives in showing up every day, choosing each other on unromantic days, and nurturing the relationship intentionally and without an audience.

This isn’t a judgment on those who enjoy celebrating Valentine’s Day. It’s simply a personal choice.

Melloney Dassanayake (Miss Universe Sri Lanka 2024)

I truly believe it’s beautiful to have a day specially dedicated to love. But, for me, Valentine’s Day goes far beyond romantic love alone. It celebrates every form of love we hold close to our hearts: the love for family, friends, and that one special person who makes life brighter. While 14th February gives us a moment to pause and celebrate, I always remind myself that love should never be limited to just one day. Every single day should feel like Valentine’s Day – constant reminder to the people we love that they are never alone, that they are valued, and that they matter.

I’m incredibly blessed because, for me, every day feels like Valentine’s Day. My special person makes sure of that through the smallest gestures, the quiet moments, and the simple reminders that love lives in the details. He shows me that it’s the little things that count, and that love doesn’t need grand stages to feel extraordinary. This Valentine’s Day, perfection would be something intimate and meaningful: a cozy picnic in our home garden, surrounded by nature, laughter, and warmth, followed by an abstract drawing session where we let our creativity flow freely. To me, that’s what love is – simple, soulful, expressive, and deeply personal. When love is real, every ordinary moment becomes magical.

Noshin De Silva (Actress)

Valentine’s Day is one of my favourite holidays! I love the décor, the hearts everywhere, the pinks and reds, heart-shaped chocolates, and roses all around. But honestly, I believe every day can be Valentine’s Day.

It doesn’t have to be just about romantic love. It’s a chance to celebrate love in all its forms with friends, family, or even by taking a little time for yourself.

Whether you’re spending the day with someone special or enjoying your own company, it’s a reminder to appreciate meaningful connections, show kindness, and lead with love every day.

And yes, I’m fully on theme this year with heart nail art and heart mehendi design!

Wishing everyone a very happy Valentine’s Day, but, remember, love yourself first, and don’t forget to treat yourself.

Sending my love to all of you.