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Ruchir Sharma urges Sri Lanka to spring a ‘surprise on the upside’ to catch foreign investors’ eye

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Ruchir Sharma

By Sanath Nanayakkare

When a country is in an economic crisis, it creates an environment conducive to implementing economic reforms which would be difficult to do in good times, however, it still depends on how far the reformist leaders can shape the opinion of the people and the people’s willingness to take those reforms on board, Rockefeller International Chairman and Breakout Capital Founder/ CIO Ruchir Sharma said in Colombo recently.

He made this comment while delivering a public lecture at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka where Sharma shared key insights from his newest book, ‘The 10 Rules of Successful Nations’, illustrating what Sri Lanka can do to catch the eye of indifferent foreign investors.

“At a time of crisis, when a new reformist leader is elected to navigate the country through it, the reforms will be painful in the beginning. If the people say,” Okay, go ahead and do something to contain the crisis, that’s fine. That happened in Greece and today the country is a shining star in Europe. But what happened in Argentina was different as the people didn’t want to go ahead with reforms despite the crisis,” he said.

In this book, Sharma delves deep into 10 rules and areas of growth which are namely; demographics, politics, state, debt, currency, investment, inflation geography, inequality and sentiment. He said that he has given his weightings to the above rules from the perspective of an investor looking at a country’s investment outlook.

The following are some select excerpts from his speech particularly indicating where Sri Lanka is ranked on his 10 rules.

Rule 1- Demographics

“We noticed Sri Lanka’s working age population is projected to grow in the next 5-10 years at only 0.1% a year. That is a very low level. This means you need to do something else to offset it. It is very difficult for Sri Lanka to grow at a rate of more than 6% when your working age population is only growing at 0.1% unless it relies on immigration, automation or increase the retirement age of the labour force.”

Rule 2 –Politics

“Most countries carry out painful economic reforms only when they hit a crisis because the population is also ready to back the reformer. Even India made reforms under crisis. Sri Lanka is going to have elections this year and I don’t know which way people are going to be voting. However, implementing economic reforms and maintaining fiscal stability in the foreseeable future would be crucial for any political party that comes to power.”

Rule 3- State

“We have noticed Sri Lanka’s spending as a share of GDP is now under control. Spending is not the problem. But taxes as a share of GDP are very low in Sri Lanka.”

Rule 4- Debt

“Greece was in crisis and today it is a growing economy in Europe. They followed the right policies and got the debt under control and capitalized on tourism and exports to boost the economy. Sri Lanka can take a smooth and continuous trajectory down this path.”

Rule 5- Currency

“Sri Lankan currency ranks pretty well because it is very cheap in the eyes of investors which is at present stable and effective”.

Rule 6- Investment

Successful countries have investments as a share of their GDP of about 25-35% .That is the sweet spot. And more successful countries have a manufacturing base with a share of their GDP at about 20% or so. Sri Lanka is in the middle in this aspect.

Rule 7- Inflation

Sri Lanka has a success story on containing inflation because of reigning in monetary expansion and having a good monetary policy framework. Most central bankers are stuck in the old framework and focus a lot on consumer price increases. But we also need to consider asset price inflation (property prices), stock prices as well. If those too increase and are backed by a lot of debt financing, that could pose a problem.

Rule 8- Geography

Sri Lanka is on the right trade route but has not fully exploited it. Also, the growth isn’t spread out internally. So much of the population and growth activity are concentrated in Colombo area and the country needs to think about new cities or new urban centres.

Rule 9- Inequality

Too much inequality is not great for a country. But Sri Lanka is not affected by this as the country has few billionaires.

Rule 10- Sentiment

Countries which are in a crisis mode are the ones that carry out economic reforms and Sri Lanka can gain approval in this exercise.

“Generally Sri Lanka ranks relatively well from an investor’s perspective as there is a big improvement over the last couple of years. Now the talking point is what is going to happen on the political front. And once that is settled, Sri Lanka needs to determine its growth engine. The classic growth engine for Sri Lanka would be manufacturing-for- exports to enable rapid increase in per capita income.”

Sounding direct without being ruthless, Sharma said at the conclusion that the world’s investor community is indifferent to Sri Lanka and they don’t talk much about Sri Lanka as their expectations about the country are low.

However, he urged Sri Lanka to capitalize on its potential and spring a surprise on the upside to catch the investors’ eye.



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Dialog delivers strong growth, stronger national contribution in FY 2025

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Dialog Axiata PLC announced, Friday 6th February 2026, its consolidated financial results (Reviewed) for the year ended 31st December 2025. Financial results included those of Dialog Axiata PLC (the “Company”) and of the Dialog Axiata Group (the “Group”).

Group Performance

The Group delivered a strong performance across Mobile, Fixed Line and Digital Pay Television businesses recording a positive Core Revenue growth of 16% Year to Date (“YTD”). Group Headline Revenue reached Rs179.6Bn, up 5% YTD, despite the continued strategic scaling down of low-margin international wholesale business. In Q4 2025, Revenue was recorded at Rs46.5Bn up 2% Quarter-on-Quarter (“QoQ”) and 2% Year-on-Year (“YoY”).

The Group Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation (“EBITDA”) reached Rs86.0Bn up 30% YTD supported by Core Revenue performance and Cost Rescaling Initiatives. On a QoQ basis Group EBITDA demonstrated a modest growth to record at Rs23.0Bn up 2% QoQ with an EBITDA margin of 49.5% in line with the Revenue performance. Group EBITDA margin reached 47.9% for FY 2025, up 9.2pp.

Group Net Profit After Tax (“NPAT”) reached Rs20.8Bn for FY 2025, up 67% YTD mainly resulting from robust EBITDA growth, despite higher tax and net finance costs. Normalized for forex impact, NPAT growth was recorded at +>100% YTD to reach Rs22.1Bn. On a QoQ basis NPAT grew 3% to reach Rs5.9Bn resulting from strong EBITDA performance.

On the back of strong operational performance, the Group recorded Operating Free Cash Flow (“OFCF”)

of Rs49.3Bn for FY 2025 up >100% YTD.

Dividend Payment to Shareholders

In line with the dividend policy and financial performance of the Group and taking into account the forward investment requirements to serve the nation’s demand for Broadband and Digital services, the Board of Directors of Dialog Axiata PLC at its meeting held on 6th February 2026, resolved to propose for consideration by the Shareholders of the Company, a dividend to ordinary shareholders amounting to Rs1.50 per share. The said dividend, if approved by shareholders, would translate to a Dividend Yield of 5.0% based on share closing price for FY 2025. The dividend so proposed will be considered for approval by the shareholders at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Company, the date pertaining to which would be notified in due course.

Company and Subsidiary Performance

At an entity level, Dialog Axiata PLC (the “Company”) continued to be the primary contributor to Group Revenue (76%) and Group EBITDA (74%). Aided by sustained growth in the Data segment and cost-rescaling initiatives, Company revenue was recorded at Rs135.8Bn for FY 2025, up 18% YTD, EBITDA rose 32% YTD to reach Rs63.6Bn. On a QoQ basis, Q4 2025 Revenue was recorded at Rs34.8Bn, down 1% QoQ due to a reclassification of Hubbing Revenue, while EBITDA decline 1% QoQ to record Rs17.0Bn, largely attributable to network restoration costs and donations made in relation to the Cyclone Ditwah relief efforts. Furthermore, NPAT was recorded at Rs15.6Bn for FY 2025, up 41% YTD. Normalised for forex impacts, the company NPAT was up +>100% YTD to reach Rs17.0Bn. On a QoQ basis, Company NPAT was recorded at Rs4.5Bn, down 6% QoQ.

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Ceylinco Life’s Pranama Scholarships reach 25-year milestone

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Ceylinco Life has announced the launch of the 25th consecutive edition of its flagship Pranama Scholarships programme, marking a significant milestone in the company’s long-standing commitment to recognising and rewarding excellence among the children of its policyholders.

Under the 2026 programme, the life insurance market leader will present scholarships with a total cumulative value of Rs. 22.7 million, continuing a rewards initiative that has now been conducted without interruption for a quarter of a century. Since its inception, the Ceylinco Life Pranama Scholarships programme has benefitted 3,466 students across the country, representing a total investment of Rs. 240 million in nurturing academic achievement and outstanding performance in sports, arts and other extracurricular pursuits.

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Sri Lankans’ artistic genius glowingly manifests at Kala Pola ‘26

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The spirit of Sri Lanka as it was ably captured by an artist.

The artistic genius of Sri Lankans was amply manifest all over again at ‘Kala Pola ‘26’ which was held on February 8th at Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha Colombo 7; the usual, teeming and colourful venue for this annual grand exhibition and celebration of the work of local visual artists.

If there is one thing that has flourished memorably and resplendently in Sri Lanka over the centuries it is the artistic capability or genius of its people. It is something that all Sri Lankans could feel a sense of elation over because from the viewpoint of the arts, Sri Lanka is second to no other nation. With regard to the visual arts a veritable dazzling radiance of this inborn and persisting capability is seen at the annual open air ‘Kala Pola’.

A bird of Sri Lanka created from scraps of iron waste.

All capable visual artists, wherever they hail from in Sri Lanka, enjoy the opportunity of exhibiting their work at the ‘Kala Pola’ and this is a distinctive ‘positive’ of this annual event that draws numberless artists and viewers. There was an abundance of paintings, sketches and sculptures, for instance, and one work was as good as the other. Ample and equal space was afforded each artist. Its widely participatory and open nature enables one to describe the exhibition as exuding a profoundly democratic ethos.

Accordingly, this time around at ‘Kala Pola ‘26’ too Sri Lankans’ creative efforts were there to be viewed, studied and enjoyed in the customary carnival atmosphere where connoisseurs, local and foreign, met in a sprit of camaraderie and good cheer. Many thanks are owed once again to the George Keyt Foundation for the presentation of the event in association with the John Keells Group and the John Keells Foundation, not forgetting the Nations Trust Bank, which was the event’s Official Banking Partner. The exhibition was officially declared open by Chief Guest Marc-Andre Franche, UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka.

By Lynn Ockersz

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