Sri Lanka Pushes For Cashless Economy, Digital ID

COLOMBO (News 1st); Sri Lanka must formalize and document the economic activities of rural communities as a priority, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who also serves as the Minister in charge of the Digital Economy, emphasized during a discussion.

The meeting, conducted at the Presidential Secretariat, focused on reviewing the progress of projects initiated under the government’s programme to transition Sri Lanka into a cashless economy.

Comprehensive discussions were held on the progress of projects carried out under the Ministry of Digital Economy in 2025, as well as new initiatives planned for implementation under the 2026 budget proposals.

Topics covered included:

Digitalization of state institutions, 

Expansion of QR-based transactions, 

Establishment of a national cloud infrastructure center

Implementation of the national high-speed broadband programme
Introduction of single-window digital services
Rollout of the digital identity project
Digitalization of fine payments

It was noted that the progress of all these initiatives was reviewed in detail.

The discussion also evaluated the operations, performance, and future plans of agencies functioning under the Ministry of Digital Economy — including:

Sri Lanka CERT,Data Protection Authority, Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL).

Attention was further drawn to the current status of the GovTech institution, which was launched to support the government’s digital transformation, including matters related to new recruitments and operational readiness.