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The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) is the main stock exchange in Sri Lanka. It is one of the exchanges in South Asia, providing a fully automated trading platform. The headquarters of the CSE has been located at the World Trade Center (Colombo) Towers in Colombo since 1995 and it also has branches across the country in Kandy, Matara, Kurunegala, Jaffna, Negombe and Anuraghapura, Ratnapura, Hambantota. The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) has 296 companies representing 20 business sectors as at 3 August 2015, with a Market Capitalization of Rs. 3115.52 Bn.

Share trading in Sri Lanka was initiated in 1896 under Share Brokers Association (SBA). In 1904 SBA was renamed as Colombo Brokers' Association. They started auctioning shares in open land. Later a competitor evolved, Stock Brokers Association and in 1985 Colombo Brockers & Stock Brokers merged and formed Colombo Securities Exchange.

The establishment of a formal stock exchange took place in 1985 with the incorporation of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), which took over the Stock Market from the Colombo Share Brokers Association. It currently has a membership of 15 institutions, all of which are licensed to operate as stockbrokers. In 1990, the business was renamed as Colombo Stock Exchange. CSE introduced Central Depository System and clearing was automated by that. In 1995 CSE headquarters was opened at WTC, Colombo.

In the initial decade of the 21st century, the world has come to grip with the frightening scene of an economic crisis which - according to some - has no known precedent in history. The collapse of the banking system on which the countries depend for their economic activity has resulted in a multiplicity of problems, such as causing joblessness, bringing development to a standstill, shutting down of industrial and business organizations, and lowering the living standards of populations and the downward spiral of global trade.

Country’s is an export-import oriented economy. Sri Lanka exports tea, rubber, coconut, spices, ready-made garments, and jewelry etc. to earn the necessary foreign exchange to pay for the country’s import needs. The countries which buy these things from us have been badly affected and demand for them is ever on the decrease. There are warnings that the plantation sector has begun to feel the clutches of the crisis. Several local industries have already laid off their work staff as a result of having no demand for their products in the international market. The nationals who have migrated for employment abroad is another principal sector sending valuable foreign currency to their motherland, which is much needed for her economic development activity. They too have faced the threat of losing their employment in view of the looming economic crisis in the respective countries where they work. As a result of this situation, Sri Lanka’s economy to has become exposed to the worsening global disaster. Set against this background where we are subject to the evil consequences of the global economic crisis, we have to evolve our own strategies to tide over this period of stress. There are numerous examples in history that demonstrate that, if you have the necessary confidence and courage, it is possible to overcome any obstruction. If Japan and Germany, which were reduced to debris by the Second World War, could rise, in a short time, as giant economic powers, the country can reduce the impact of the crisis provided the government adopts proper fiscal measures and the nation is geared with determination to overcome the hurdle.

A diverse and multicultural country, Sri Lanka is home to many religions, ethnic groups, and languages.[ In addition to the majority Sinhalese, it is home to large groups of Sri Lankan and Indian Tamils, Moors,Burghers, Malays, Kaffirs and the aboriginal Vedda. Sri Lanka has a rich Buddhist heritage, and the first known Buddhist writings of Sri Lanka, the P?li Canon, dates back to the Fourth Buddhist council in 29 BC. The country's recent history has been marred by a thirty-year civil war which decisively ended when Sri Lankan military defeated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2009. Sri Lanka is a republic and a unitary state governed by a Semi-presidential system. The legislative capital, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, is a suburb of the commercial capital and largest city, Colombo. An important producer of tea, coffee, gemstones, coconuts, rubber, and the native cinnamon, the island contains tropical forests and diverse landscapes with much biodiversity.

Sri Lanka has had a long history of international engagement, as a founding member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), and a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, the G77, and the Non-Aligned Movement. Along with Maldives it is one of the two countries in South Asia that are currently rated "high" on the Human Development Index.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the widow of Bandaranaike, took office as prime minister in 1960, and withstood an attempted coup d'état in 1962. During her second term as prime minister, the government instituted socialist economic policies, strengthening ties with the Soviet Union and China, while promoting a policy of non-alignment. In 1971, Ceylon experienced a Marxist insurrection, which was quickly suppressed. In 1972, the country became a republic named Sri Lanka, repudiating its dominion status. Prolonged minority grievances and the use of communal emotionalism as an election campaign weapon by both Sinhalese and Tamil leaders abetted a fledgling Tamil militancy in the north during the 1970s. The policy of standardization by the Sirimavo government to rectify disparities created in university enrolment, which was in essence an affirmative action to assist geographically disadvantaged students to obtain tertiary education, resulted in reducing the proportion of Tamil students at university level and acted as the immediate catalyst for the rise of militancy. The assassination of Jaffna Mayor Alfred Duraiyappahin 1975 by LTTE marked a crisis point.

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The rupee (LKR) is the currency of Sri Lanka, divided into 100 cents. It is issued by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and is generally written Rs. (though SLRs. may occasionally be used for disambiguation). Several other currencies are also called rupee.

The British pound became Ceylon's official money of account in 1825, replacing the Ceylonese rixdollar at a rate of 1 pound = 13 1?3 rixdollars, and British silver coin was made legal tender. Treasury notes denominated in pounds were issued in 1827, replacing the earlier rixdollar notes. Rixdollar notes not presented for exchange were demonetized in June 1831.

The Indian rupee was made Ceylon's standard coin on 26 September 1836, and Ceylon reverted to the Indian currency area. Pound-denominated treasury notes continued to circulate after 1836, along with the rupee. The legal currency remained British silver and accounts were kept in pounds, shillings, and pence. However, payments were made in rupees and annas at the "fictitious par" (fixed accounting rate) of 2 shillings per rupee (i.e., 1 pound = 10 rupees).

The Bank of Ceylon was the first private bank to issue banknotes on the island (1844) and Treasury notes were withdrawn in 1856. The Indian rupee was formally established as the unlimited legal tender 18 June 1869. The rupee was decimalized 23 August 1871. Thus, the rupee of 100 cents became Ceylon's money of account and sole legal tender effective 1 January 1872, replacing British currency at a rate of 1 rupee = 2 shillings 3 pence.

The obverse of the coins issued since 1972 carries the Armorial Ensign of the Republic of Sri Lanka. The reverse of the coin the value in numerals and in Sinhala, Tamil and English below and year of issue at the bottom with SRI LANKA in Sinhala on top. On 14 December 2005, the Sri Lanka central bank issued a new series of coins in the denominations of 25 and 50 cents, 1, 2 and 5 Rupees. The lower denominations of 1, 2, 5 and 10 cents, although legal tender, are not seen in circulation and not in general issued by banks. Furthermore, the minting of these denominations has been discontinued due to associated costs of production and lack of commercial demand.

Observe and reverse designs of the new coins remained identical to the existing circulating coins of the same denominations. However, their weights and compositions have been changed to smaller sizes and electroplated steel as opposed to a solid alloy for easier identification purposes and to save on production expense. On 5 April 2010 Sri Lanka replaced the 10 rupee note with an 11-sided, nickel-steel electroplated coin. The 1 rupee notes were replaced by coins in 1963.

From 1977, banknotes were issued by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. 20 rupee notes were introduced in 1979, followed by 500 and 1000 rupees in 1981, 200 rupees in 1998 and 2,000 rupees in 2006. Sri Lankan banknotes are unusual in that they are printed vertically on the reverse. In 1998, a 200-rupee note was issued to commemorate the 50th anniversary of independence (1948–1998). This is the first polymer banknote issued in Sri Lanka, and it was printed by Note Printing Australia. All other denominations are printed by the De La Rue Lanka Currency and Securities Print (Pvt.) Ltd, a joint venture of the Government of Sri Lanka and De La Rue, a printing company in the United Kingdom.