With the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis behind us, many have been quick to categorise Sri Lanka’s status quo as being in a state of economic recovery. However for Colombo’s working class poor, daily life remains unchanged. Even in Colombo where the wheels of economic development are turning the fastest, these communities are using the same survival strategies since 2022 of cutting expenses, depending on borrowing from the informal credit market, and juggling multiple income streams just to get by. If households are still making trade-offs and sacrifices as before, can we truly call this a recovery?

Debt-for-nature swaps (DFNS) are now emerging as a mainstream financial instrument, mobilising millions of dollars in conservation funding worldwide. Done correctly, a DFNS is an opportunity, not a liability. For Sri Lanka, a well-structured DFNS remains both financially and ecologically valuable, offering an opportunity to secure long-term conservation funding, even in a post-restructuring scenario.

Centre for a Smart Future is pleased to launch 'Looking Back, Building Forward' A Collection of Essays on Sri Lanka’s Economic Crisis and Emerging Priorities. The purpose of this publication - a collection of essays of our writing since 2022 - is twofold. Firstly, to serve as a reminder of some of the key contributing aspects of the crisis, as well as the impacts faced by vulnerable communities. With a desire to quickly ‘move on’ and celebrate recovery, these aspects have been forgotten. Secondly, to serve as reference points to inform and influence a more just, inclusive, and sustainable economic recovery, which is our idea of a ‘smart future’.

The impacts of COVID-19 lockdowns followed by a crushing economic crisis provided Sri Lanka the perfect opportunity to rethink what social protection means for the country, who it should be for, what it should entail and how it should be operationalised. Unfortunately what we saw was a heavy focus on one new cash transfer programme Aswesuma, which replaced the existing Samurdhi programme. This Policy Brief presents a detailed critique of the Aswesuma programme and some pathways to the new government and policy makers to strengthen social protection in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka will be hosting unprecedented numbers of tourists in the shortterm. National parks are a key tourist attraction, hosting rapidly increasing visitors since 2009. A new report by CSF, titled 'Getting the Price Right: Rationalizing Park Entry Fees and the Case of Yala National Park', makes the case for why we should take a closer look at how national park entry fees must be determined and revised. Through a review of the theory and practice of national park entry fee pricing, along with a historical analysis of Sri Lankan national park entry fee revisions, the report presents four policy considerations.

Platform-based gig work has grown in Sri Lanka, introducing new sources of income, flexibility, and choice for workers. Yet, tensions around precarious incomes, worker safeguards, and algorithm opacity, have been under explored. New CSF research pioneers field-based findings and insights into these issues, to help move regulation forward and improve our thinking on the future of work.