Classic text reporting, backed up with data, exploring the how and why. Best consumed when you have thirty minutes to spare and a cup of tea on hand.

Sri Lanka’s future with the IMF

Following our series on Sri Lanka’s economic crisis, we take a look at what the IMF can do for us, and how we need to step up — by reforming taxes, legislature, and policies.

@Thursday

The Attack on GotaGoGama: The Aftermath

It’s been an incredibly long week — from vigilantes setting fire to things, the Central Bank Governor threatening to resign, the Prime Minister actually resigning, to swearing in a new (but old) Prime Minister after days of chaos. Here’s the breakdown.

@May 13, 2022

The SLPP Attack on GotaGoGama: a Timeline

A record of what happened on the 9th of May, 2022, told with images, video and the occasional map.

@May 11, 2022

Crosses and Curses — the legacy of the Easter Sunday Attacks

Three years from the Easter Sunday attacks, we are still grappling with the impact on families affected by the bombings, the empty promises for justice, and the continued misuse of the PTA to target and harass minorities.

@May 1, 2022

Sri Lanka’s road to IMF, explained

Watchdog’s resident economist Umesh Moramudali explains what Sri Lanka defaulting means, for us, and for the country.

@April 16, 2022

#AskWatchdog: where do we go from here?

Your frequently asked questions and plans for going forward from the #SriLankaCrisis, and our answers. Questions are sent to us by our readership, and we’ll keep the answers updated - this is a living document.

Explainer: What is this state of Emergency?

The President has declared a state of emergency. What is a state of emergency, how does it affect you, and what do you need to know about how it works? We break down the complex laws into an easily understandable summary. Click here to read.

@April 2, 2022

Incident report: The Mirihana Protest, summarised

A timeline of the major events that happened yesterday, using footage shared on social media. Click here to read.

@April 1, 2022

What exactly is the Special GST and Surcharge Tax Bill?

On taxes: we now have the Special Goods and Services Tax (SGST) Bill, and the Surcharge Tax Bill. One of them died in the Supreme Court recently, but the other is very much alive. Here’s a brief 101 on what they’re all about.

@March 31, 2022

Fertilizer: a Sri Lankan Tragedy

Why do we use fertilizer in the first place? In this piece, we take you from Robert Malthus’s influential fears of famine from the 17th century, to the invention of fertilizer, to the impact it had on both global agriculture and our little colonised state.

@March 26, 2022

The Myth of the Agricultural Nation

Can the methods of the ancients really feed the current population of Sri Lanka? Are we agriculturally self-sufficient? A grain of rice is a wonderful thing, but we need several grains of salt to take this mytho-history at face value. Click here to read.

@March 24, 2022

The Sri Lankan Foreign Debt Problem

Dollars and debt; the battle-cry of our times. As our economy slowly sinks, we dig into the debt story to show you exactly who Sri Lanka owes money to, why, when, and for what. Are we in a Chinese debt trap? What does our ISB debt really look like? Can we actually repay all this? Click here to read.

@March 6, 2022

What's happening with the Sri Lankan economy?

Our economy is fucked. But why? And how? Our resident economist explains how we ended up tilting headlong into this crisis. Click here to read.

@February 1, 2022

Forced conversions?

Don’t panic! In this piece, we dig into the laws of the country to explain how the Central Bank converts your dollars to rupees. Click here to read.