Govt keen to promote cashless economy and introduce digital IDs
January 19, 2026 04:10 pm
Extensive discussions have been held at a review meeting at the Presidential Secretariat pertaining to the progress of projects planned by the government to promote a cashless economy in Sri Lanka, including the digitalisation of government institutions, promotion of QR transactions and the completion of the digital identity card project.
A discussion to review the progress of projects implemented under the Ministry of Digital Economy in 2025 and to examine new projects planned to be implemented under the 2026 budgetary allocations was held today (19) at the Presidential Secretariat under the patronage of the Minister of Digital Economy, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
Special attention was paid to the plans and progress of programmes to promote a cashless economy, the President’s Media Division said in a statement.
Accordingly, extensive discussions were held on the progress of projects planned by the government to promote a cashless economy in Sri Lanka, including the digitalisation of government institutions, promotion of QR transactions, establishment of a Cloud infrastructure centre, a national programme to provide high-speed broadband facilities, provision of single-window facilities, the digital identity card project and the project to digitalise payment of traffic spot fines, the PMD noted.
Noting that much of the economic activity of rural communities remains in the informal sector, the President had emphasised the need to formally document these activities and stressed that this is essential when formulating future economic and development plans.
The performance, progress and future plans of institutions under the Ministry of Digital Economy, including Sri Lanka CERT, the Data Protection Authority and the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC), were also reviewed.
The current status and new recruitments of the GovTech institution, established to implement the Government’s digitalisation programme, were also discussed, the PMD added.
Deputy Minister of Digital Economy, Eranga Weeraratne, Secretary to the President, Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, Senior Presidential Adviser on Digital Economy, Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya, Senior Additional Secretary to the President, Roshan Gamage, Secretary to the Ministry of Digital Economy, Varuna Sri Dhanapala, senior officials of the Ministry and heads of institutions under the Ministry also participated in the discussion.
