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ADB country chief hopes Lanka could sustain policy reforms despite elections
ECONOMYNEXT –The Asian Development Bank (ADB) expects Sri Lanka not to reverse its International Monetary Fund-led policy reforms despite elections soon, the ADB Country Director for Sri Lanka Takafumi Kadono said.
The island nation has witnessed repeated reversals of policy reforms in the past due to greedy politicians who misled the people to vote for them by sowing the seeds of subsidy mentality with unsustainable debts at expensive borrowing costs, economists say.
That led the country into an unprecedented economic crisis in 2022 with a sovereign debt default. Sri Lanka is still struggling to come out of the crisis.
The IMF has strictly placed some reforms including in state sector enterprises, fiscal and monetary sectors.
Sri Lanka has implemented the painful IMF reforms so far including higher personal income taxes, but economists have raised concerns over the sustainability of the current reforms due to possible changes in the policies in the event of a new president or government comes to power after democratic elections.
“If that kind of reversal happens, we also cannot justify our support,” ADB Country Director for Sri Lanka Takafumi Kadono told EconomyNext on late on Wednesday.
“We do expect these policy reforms to be sustained. So that is our expectation. That is the premise which we are providing our budget support. If they reverse, the whole premise will be collapsed. That kind of policy reversal cannot happen.”
The island nation had sought IMF bailout package for 17 times including the ongoing support. However, the authorities have failed to complete most of the past IMF loan disbursements due to politically motivated contradiction with the global lender’s tight fiscal policies.
Sri Lanka has shown some signs of recovery in the third quarter of 2023 with the economic growth turned to positive from contraction for the first time in seven quarters.
However, opposition political parties have promised to revisit the IMF deal if they come to power.
Higher taxes, soaring cost of living, and lack of salary hike have made President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s government unpopulour among the public, analysts say.
Wickremesinghe has said the country will hold both presidential and parliamentary election by 2025.
Some government politicians have told EconomyNext that the higher taxes would be eased from April and the authorities will try their best to meet the IMF conditions for the third disbursement in June this year.
The presidential polls should be held by October this year, but opposition parties have said President Wickremesinghe is in the process to delay the poll.
However, Wickremesinghe’s office last week said Presidential Election will be held “within the mandated period”, without giving an exact time.It also said the General Election will be held next year, “according to the current timeline”.
Sri Lanka Naval Ship (SLNS) Sindurala arrived at the port of Visakhapatnam in India on 17 September 2026, to participate in the bilateral naval exercise ‘SLINEX – 2026’.
The Indian Navy formally welcomed the SLN vessel upon its arrival, adhering to naval traditions.
The joint exercise will take place on 20 and 21 September in the seas off the east coast of India. On 18 September, the Commanding Officer SLNS Sindurala, Captain Sunanda Appuhamy, held official discussions with Commander Suraj Aiyappa, Commanding Officer Indian Naval Ship (INS) Kavaratti, aboard both vessels.
The annual exercise aims to enhance cooperation, interoperability, and professional exchange between the two navies. During the exercise, crew members from SLNS Sindurala will also participate in several professional and cultural exchanges organized by the Indian Navy.
Advisory for strong winds and rough seas for Multi-day boats in the Bay of Bengal deep sea areas
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre
Issued at 05.00 p.m. 18 September 2026, valid for the next 24 hours.
PLEASE BE AWARE!
The atmospheric disturbance to the North of the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal, is likely to develop into a low pressure area within the next 24 hours.
Due to its influence, wind speed over the Bay of Bengal sea areas will increase during the next few days starting from
tomorrow (19th).
The wind speed in the sea areas marked under the “Advisory” category on the map below will increase to 55-65 kmph at times and those sea areas will be rough or very rough at times.
Navel and fishing communities engaging the activities over this sea area are advised to be vigilant and be attentive to the future forecasts and bulletins issued by the department of Meteorology in this regards.
Text and Pic by Priyan de Silva
Director General of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption (CIABOC) Ranga Dissanayake has questioned whether some promises contained in the National People’s Power (NPP) manifesto, A Thriving Nation – A Beautiful Life, could be fulfilled even if the government wanted to implement them.
Dissanayake raised the issue during a discussion following the release of the third biannual report on manifesto monitoring by the March 12 Movement, at the BMICH, on Wednesday.
He questioned whether the report had taken into account legal and institutional constraints affecting the implementation of certain pledges.
Citing the proposal to establish Anti-Corruption Investigation Offices in each district, Dissanayake said such offices could be established only with the agreement of CIABOC and that amendments to the Anti-Corruption Act would be necessary.
He also referred to the pledge to abolish the Executive Presidency, noting that successive governments had made similar commitments since 1994. He questioned whether there had been adequate consideration of where the powers vested in the Executive President would be transferred if the system were abolished.
On the proposal to establish a Public Prosecutor, Dissanayake questioned whether the Government intended to maintain the office alongside the Attorney General, who currently performs prosecution-related functions.
Executive Director of the Institute for Democratic Reforms and Electoral Studies (IRES) Manjula Gajanayake said Dissanayake’s remarks should be regarded as his personal views and not as Government policy.
Monitoring and Evaluation Consultants M. Thilakarajah and D.D. Mataharaarachchi presented the third-phase findings, covering January to June 2026.
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SLNS Sindurala arrives in Visakhapatnam for SLINEX 2026
Advisory for strong winds and rough seas for Multi-day boats in the Bay of Bengal
Showers in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya Districts
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