Shenal Fernando

Attorney-at-law | Economics and Capital Markets | Byline in @TheMorningLK | Opinions expressed are personal.

[Shenal Fernando @shenfdo_7]

@CuriosityonX OK

[Shenal Fernando @shenfdo_7]

@udendra @Thisal92 Actually they are complaining that their landing cost is higher than CPC and using that as a excuse to justify not providing continous supply to sheds.

[Shenal Fernando @shenfdo_7]

@ManikkageYasuni Isn't he accused in a kidney transplant scam?

[Shenal Fernando @shenfdo_7]

@shanaka86 @DownIoadBot

[Elorm Daniel @elormkdaniel]

For those of you who don’t know, VLC also allows you to watch 150–300 live sports channels plus over 1,800 free TV channels worldwide

Here’s how (using safe and public links only):

Install VLC (Free)
Windows / Mac / Linux: videolan .org
Android / iOS: Search VLC in your store

Get a public playlist
Sports-only: https://t.co/ABAhZgOv2O
Full TV (News, Movies, Kids, Music): https://t.co/JvWFFSE7ik

Open VLC → Network Stream → Paste URL → Play
Use Playlist view to switch channels
Some streams take a few seconds, VPN may be needed for geo-blocked content

Channels are public & community-maintained and availability can change.

Enjoy free TV & sports safely

cc: Rollandex

[Dinidu de Alwis @dinidu]

Please Stop: An open letter to Jamila Husain, Editor in Chief of the Daily Mirror

Dear Jamila,

It was somewhere late 2008 or early 2009 I crossed the corridor from Sunday Times and walked into the Daily Mirror newsroom. Then editor of the Daily Mirror Champ(ika) (Liyanarachchi) had wanted a full assurance from me that I'm coming with the approval and blessing of Anthony (David) and Sinha (Ratnatunge), because she didn't want to be told she's poaching - during my first sit down with Champika I explained how, as much as I venerate the Sunday Times, I wanted to get the daily-news experience. The Daily Mirror was the best English daily.

Three years prior, spending a large chunk of my measely Rs 6,000 salary from BCIS, I would still buy the DM because it was a good paper and I wanted to some day work there.

I can't remember if Champi introduced me to you and Easy (Easwaren Rutnam) or pointed you two out from inside her cubicle, but you and Easy were the ones I was told to get help, stories, contacts, pointers. I did, and you both helpfully obliged. I remember how you helped me turn a one-line story about an assault of an old woman into a two para bit.

I don't remember if you were there when I got my first lead of Pillayan's secretary shit dead, but vague recollection is that you were the one who sent me to that.

You left then I left and fast forward ten years, amidst rumours of a leadership change at the newspaper, you called and asked me if I'd be interested in coming back. You had found out I was thinking of leaving my job at the British High Commission, and you were keen to bring the paper back to how it was earlier. We kept talking over the weeks, but then between Covid cremations and elections I decided to stick around for a bit and not leave.

The point I'm trying to get to, is this: you were a mentor. I looked upto you. You helped, you taught. I learnt. You consoled me when I had to share bylines for big leads with the police reporter who had added two lines to my 1,000-word lead.

Ten years later, you made me want to actually leave the job I was doing and come to Daily Mirror with a significant pay cut, because you told me you wanted to make the paper like it was 'back in the day'.

Then when I tweeted at Namal about some airport thing you just snapped. Then you kept snapping until one day out of the blue you called hysterically in a fit of rage to ask if my 'downstairs' worked or my critique of the Daily Mirror and you is some complex due to an erectile dysfunction.

In a lot of people's eyes, you're just the person who dragged the Daily Mirror into the gutter. But for me it's different and far more painful. You're the person who showed me the where the metaphorical ropes, gave hope that good news reporting may be possible again, and then went on to not just drive the paper to the ground but then stamp on it on a daily basis.

I beg of you (and Sujan) - please stop.

Either the two of you don't care about the damage you're causing to the Sri Lankan civic space - in which case you're sociopaths; or you don't know about the damage you're causing to the Sri Lankan civic space - in which case you shouldn't be running a newspaper stand, let alone a newspaper.

It pains me to see that both Ranjit (Wijewardena) and Lalith (Allahkkoon) have to see what a trashy rag their one time pride and joy has become.

Stop. Give it to someone who can. Do that service to the country.

With love, Dinidu

[Shenal Fernando @shenfdo_7]

@yudhanjaya @rebelinpurple He got this because the newspapers' lawyers didn't appear in court and the order was given in his favour ex parte.

[Shenal Fernando @shenfdo_7]

@chami9539 @koddadi Just an interim order. Haven't argued the matter yet.

[Shenal Fernando @shenfdo_7]

@rangaba @CIABOC_SriLanka Did the AG sleep with your wife? Your allegations are getting quite absurd.

[Earth_Wanderer @earth_tracker]

All-time favorite type of videos: pre-fame bands playing their extremely famous songs to a tiny room of people, because they're not yet known. A Thread 🧵

1. Two dudes in 2003, unaware they were making a legendary song

[Shenal Fernando @shenfdo_7]

@maheeshwara @kalinga What do you mean by an online shop to sell frequencies?

[Shenal Fernando @shenfdo_7]

@BellamSwathi @raviparmarIN Then ask for a cook who knows how to cook indian cuisine you dimwit!

[Raghu @IndiaTales7]

Some of the Most Intriguing Moments from the Past.🧵

1. Saddam Hussein's last public appearance before the Fall of Baghdad.
This footage was filmed in Baghdad, 15mins away from American troops.

[Rehana Thowfeek | Free Palestine 🇵🇸 🇱🇰 @RegularReh]

Extremely absurd. Treasury Secretary is an important, non-political, technical job. Not one for politicians to do.

[Shenal Fernando @shenfdo_7]

@HarlemJ11 @Megatron_ron @sxckMyDicx Iran actually has one of the largest arsenals of missiles in the region. The issue is launchers. Thats their bottle neck.

[Shenal Fernando @shenfdo_7]

@V1DULA @damkith_alwis How?

[Shenal Fernando @shenfdo_7]

@dinethheshan__ @afshan_ham If not for this latest development I felt market could have hit 18k before pulling back

[Asiri Fernando @AsiriFernandoLK]

With so many high-rise buildings coming up in and around #colombo, do authorities realise that the #colombofirebrigade has only a few aerial ladder trucks, and even those can reach only around 10 or 12 floor's height? How will we face a high-rise fire 🔥 in Colombo?

[Gayan Lakmal Alwis, CFA @theGayan]

Look before you leap.

I usually don’t respond to views of others - everyone is allowed to have (and share) their own views.

Differing views make a market vibrant and liquid. If everyone had the same view, there will only be buyers (or sellers).

Said that, below are my views on this.

Original Post
• Overall message seems to be worded in an one-sided way. I prefer to be neutral in the message and let reader decide whehter its positive or not.

• Comparing May 2025 reserve figures to Oct 2024 - not sure why, but @Economynext did it too in a recent post

• @CBSL has not injected money in the recent past, except for USD purchases. There are no term repos outstanding as well. Post refers to USD sales (which weren't the case, in net terms). The confusing part is USD sales actually absorb liquidity from the market.

• Although it keeps referring to "deflationary cycle", cutting rates and expanding money supply (= current policy stance of CBSL) is actually an inflationary cycle. This is the correct stance right now as we are at sub-zero inflation and (as per CBSL) inflation projections are below what they expect few months ago.

Comments on My Post
• Agreed that Net Purchases ≠ Net Gains in Reserves. Again, I don’t understand why May 2025 reserves are compared to Oct 2024 levels.

• @IMFNews target is for net international reserves as I have pointed out few days before as a response to a question. Also, the USD purchases are an undertaking given by us and therefore, needs to be met - which is on track.

• Regarding the USD 1.1 Bn figure, it’s wrong as you can’t add all the items in that report, as not all are cash outflows.

• Below statements are factually wrong:
- "Liquidity injections domestically": there are none, except small amounts on overnight basis which are essential for liquidity management of Banks.
- "FX sales to stabilize the rupee externally" - as I’ve mentioned above, it’s actually a purchase on net terms.

One more thing:
Whether it’s imports or loan repayments, foreign reserves dip only if CBSL sells USDs to finance such.

If imports and loan repayments are made using the USDs sourced from the market, then there’s no impact on the reserves.

Finally:
There is always a risk in IMF programs going off-track. More than 90% of the programs were never completed. But this one - as of now - is on track.

Hope this clarifies where I stand. As I’ve stated above, I don’t wish to get into arguments or debates.

We are allowed to have our own views. This is mine.

@CSE_Media @ForzenStur

[Shanaka Anslem Perera ⚡ @shanaka86]

🚨 THE INVISIBLE RISK THAT WILL BLOW UP YOUR PORTFOLIO IN SRI LANKA AND NOBODY’S TALKING ABOUT IT 🇱🇰💣

While retail investors chase all-time highs on the CSE and broker desks celebrate the “bull run,” Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves have quietly dropped to USD 6.284B in May, falling below October 2024 levels. This isn’t a blip, it’s the first crack in a new macro fragility cycle that could blindside everyone.

Let’s be clear: these reserves aren’t falling because of external shocks. They’re falling because of internal, predictable, avoidable policy failure. The CBSL is once again injecting excess rupee liquidity under the illusion of monetary control, while quietly selling dollars to cover the bleed. If this feels like déjà vu — it is.

We’ve seen this movie before. Late-cycle rate cuts + printed liquidity + artificial FX stability = reserve erosion + IMF non-compliance + credibility crisis.

📌 In short: Sri Lanka is easing into a hard-money regime it can’t afford without admitting it.

📌 Debt repayments are real. IMF targets are rigid. The domestic banking system isn’t built to absorb both inflationary liquidity and deflationary policy.

📌 The result? A perfect storm of structural monetary contradiction.

And here’s the kicker! the Treasury isn’t even buying dollars independently. It’s 100% dependent on CBSL’s deflationary cycle to collect reserves. That means foreign debt repayment, import cover, and rupee stability are now hostage to a central bank still caught in a doctrinal trap.

Now ask yourself: how many investors are pricing this in? Almost none.

🔥 If you’re long Sri Lanka in equities or bonds, you better know what you’re holding.

Real exporters (HAYL, EXPO) = strong hands.

Rate-sensitive, import-heavy plays = trapdoors waiting to open.

Banks holding excessive sovereign exposure? Watch for stealth duration risk if yields pop.

🧠 Macro is not just about numbers, it’s about operating frameworks. And Sri Lanka’s is still broken.

📢 Bottom line: This isn’t just a reserves dip. It’s the first tremor in a policy earthquake. The next few months will separate real capital allocators from retail tourists. Stay sharp. Stay hedged. And for the love of alpha — stop trusting the surface rally.

You’ve been warned.

@svkiruba81 @DrBukkabwoi