Sri Lanka’s business climate stands as the island’s strongest attraction for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), a factor which must be greatly improved on through targeted reforms, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) Chairperson and Lion Brewery CEO, Suresh Shah said.
Sri Lanka’s interest rates are at an appropriate level and the Central Bank probably will keep borrowing costs steady for the next three to six months if current conditions persist, Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal was quoted as saying to Bloomberg.
Efforts to drive the Sri Lankan apparel sector into a new growth phase may hinge on the success of the potential free trade agreement (FTA) in the offing with China, according to Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) Secretary General Tuli Cooray.
Sri Lanka yesterday commenced the sale of her sixth international sovereign bond. International rating agencies Fitch, Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s rated the bond at ‘BB-(EXP)’, ‘B+’ and ‘(P)B1’, respectively, in line with their respective sovereign credit ratings assigned to the country.
The Central Bank yesterday compressed the policy rate corridor to 150 basis points (bps) from the current 200 points, by cutting the rate for the lending of overnight funds to the banking system by 50 basis points, claming “volatility in the interbank call money market has reduced substantially.”
New foreign entrants to Sri Lanka’s banking sector will be required to incorporate their businesses locally commencing from 2016, according to Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Governor, Ajith Nivard Cabraal.
All Sri Lankan trade and business chambers must work together to foster improved standards of debate and discussion around economic and even social policy according to outgoing International Monetary Fund (IMF) Resident Representative to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Dr. Koshy Mathai.
Export of Sri Lankan spices increased sharply to 40.4 percent Year-on-Year (YoY) from January to October of this year, boosted by a drastic rise in exports of pepper and Cloves, according to Spices & Allied Products Producers’ & Traders Association (SAPPTA) statistics.
Sri Lanka’s Central Bank (CB) will implement the third and the latest installment of Basel Accords— BASEL III beginning 2014, requiring the banks to further strengthen their capital buffers and also wanting them to decrease bank leverage, according to a CB official.
The Sri Lankan government has started fresh talks with India, in a bid to bring changes to the existing Indo-Lanka Free Trade Agreement (FTA), as the controversial Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) has not come to fruition due to protest from various quarters, a top bureaucrat disclosed.
Sri Lanka’s ship supplier industry must look to float a common bond in order to increase its lobbying power and push for concessions not granted with Budget 2014, according to Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) Harbour Master, Captain Ravi Jayawickrama.
Fonterra to proceed with sale process for Consumer businesses
BOI signs US$ 12.16mn deal with Celogen Lanka
Nissan to lay off thousands of workers as sales drop
EU Ambassador meets new BOI Chief to discuss economic ties
SLCERT warns WhatsApp users against sharing OTPs to prevent hacking
EC gets tough with filming polling-related activities
Police, military on high alert for today’s General Election