Sarathkumara Premachandra joins Laugfs Terminals as Director/CEO

Further strengthening its leadership team, Laugfs Holdings, the diversified conglomerate announced the appointment of Sarathkumara Premachandra as Director/Chief Executive Officer of Laugfs Terminals Limited.

Current political crisis entails “irreversible serious economic consequences”: economist

The ongoing political turmoil in the country has created “irreversible serious economic consequences” for Sri Lanka for years to come, particularly damaging the foreign investor sentiment, which would ultimately result in limiting foreign capital inflows to the country, a senior economist in the country said. “Even if the country is able to resolve the political crisis within a week or month, the echoes or impact of unfortunate

Political leadership in agreement to get IMF programme back on track

The political leaders representing the major political parties in the country are in agreement to get the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme back on track as soon as possible to stabilise the economy, amid external financial conditions increasingly becoming unfavourable for the island nation, according to Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy.  

Sri Lanka’s ousted PM likens President to Hitler

(Colombo) AFP: Sri Lanka’s toppled premier likened the president to Hitler yesterday as he demanded to be reinstated, almost six weeks into a paralysing political crisis in the Indian Ocean nation.

Court restrains Rajapaksa from acting as PM amid weeks-long crisis

(Colombo) REUTERS: A Sri Lankan court yesterday issued an order preventing Mahinda Rajapaksa from acting as prime minister and holding Cabinet meetings, the latest twist to a political drama gripping the South Asian country.  

NDB declared ‘Bank of the Year’ by The Banker, UK

The National Development Bank (NDB) for the first time has won the coveted ‘Bank of the Year’ award presented by The Banker of the UK, ending the year 2018 on a high note. 

Urban sector computer literacy rate tops 40%

Sri Lanka’s overall computer literacy reported for 2017 was 28.6 percent, while the urban sector showed the highest computer literacy rate of 40.5 percent among residential sectors. 

Higher oil bill, vehicle imports fire up imports expanding Sept. trade gap

Vehicle imports by Sri Lankans shot up while the fuel bill rose sharply in the month of September, expanding Sri Lanka’s trade deficit, and pushing the island nation currently embroil

New coin series presented to MR

Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy officially presented a new series of circulation coins with face value of Rs.10, Rs.5, Rs.2 and Rs.1 to Prime Minister and Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, this week. 

CB says won’t stand in way of financial innovation

The Central Bank yesterday assured the country’s financial services sector that it would not stand in the way of progress with its controls, but asserted it will closely monitor the proces

Call for political stability and sanity gets louder

More industry bodies are joining the chorus to urge the country’s political leadership to ensure stability and a swift solution to the current political stalemate situation to avert dire consequences to the country’s economy and its people.  

Tea industry wage negotiations deadlocked amid political crisis

The Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) have asserted that the Rs.1000 daily wage increase for tea estate workers demanded by trade unions is impossible amidst declining tea prices and rising cost of production, which has been further heightened by the loss considerable market share in the Japanese tea market. Spea

State banks to borrow up to US$1 bn abroad before end of 2018

Sri Lanka’s three State banks will borrow up to US$1 billion from foreign sources before the end of 2018 and use the money to pay off maturing foreign loans, Finance Ministry Secretary S.R. Attygalle said on Thursday. The move comes as Sri Lanka faces a worsening political crisis with a newly appointed government refusing to resign despite losing two confidence votes in parliament.

October national inflation decelerates on base effect; core inflation up

Sri Lanka’s nationwide inflation measured by the year-on-year (YoY) change in the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) in October decelerated to 0.1 percent— the lowest point since Jan

CB hits back at Moody’s; calls rating downgrade unwarranted and unjustifiable

The Central Bank yesterday hit back at Moody’s Investors Service over the recent credit rating downgrade, stating that the rating agency’s decision is unwarranted and unjustifiable as it is purely based on heightened political uncertainty, with no evidence of slippages in macroeconomic policies.

Lubricant market expands in 2Q on base effect

Sri Lanka’s lubricant market leader, Chevron Lubricants Lanka PLC was seen gaining market share lost to its competitors during the second quarter of 2018 (2Q18), the quarterly lubricant mar

New PM may lose budget even as he clings to power

(Colombo) REUTERS: Sri Lanka’s newly appointed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who lost two motions of no confidence last week, may lose his government’s budget even as he clings to power.

Tourism industry sees slowdown in bookings during key winter season

Sri Lanka’s tourism industry stakeholders yesterday expressed concerns over the possibility of prospective tourists who would have visited Sri Lanka turning to other alternative destinations due to  the prolonged political crisis, as tourist bookings for the crucial winter season are already showing a slowdown.  Speaking to Mirror Business, key tourism

Softlogic opens first supermarket

Softlogic Supermarkets Pvt Ltd CEO Andrew Dalby (left) handing over the first purchase made at the newly launched Softlogic GLOMARK in Delkanda to Softlogic Holdings PLC Chairman/MD Ashok Pathirage   

Hefty tax reversal boosts Softlogic Sept. quarter

Softlogic Holdings PLC returned to profit during the three months ended September (2Q19) amid a substantial tax reversal at the group’s life insurance business, while the group’s key retail business 

CB raises key rates in surprise move to support currency

Sri Lanka’s Central Bank unexpectedly raised its key policy rates yesterday, a move aimed at defending a faltering rupee currency as foreign capital outflows pick up amid an escalating political crisis and rising U.S. interest rate

ComBank resilient despite surge in NPLs, higher taxes

Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC (ComBank) yesterday showed it has what it takes to withstand the shocks in the wider economy and could still post strong profits and growth. 

Sri Lanka’s bilateral aid not at risk: Amunugama

Foreign governments have not withdrawn grants, project loans and economic programmes with Sri Lanka, said Sarath Amunugama, who was appointed as Foreign Minister amid a constitutional crisis.

Rupee depreciation hurts Sri Lanka’s largest telco

The feeble Sri Lankan rupee eroded Dialog Axiata PLC’s bottom line during the September quarter (3Q18) as the country’s largest telco booked a hefty foreign currency translational loss against its do

Anura Priyadharshana assumes duties as State Finance Minister

Anura Priyadharshana Yapa assumed duties as the Minister of State for Finance  at the Finance Ministry yesterday. Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa,  ministers Lakshman Yapa Abeywardene and Dunesh Gankanda and Ministry  Secretary S.R. Attygalle and other senior officials were present during the occasion.

October tourist arrivals up by unimpressive 0.5%

Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka in the month of October increased only 0.5 percent year-on-year (YoY) to 153, 123 with arrivals from several key regions declining, data released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority showed. Asia and Pacific continued to be the largest source of tourist traffic to Sri Lanka with 47 percent of the total traffic received in October 2018.    Europe acco

JKH 2Q impacted by higher costs, subdued macro conditions

The subdued macro environment and higher costs relating to expansions and refurbishments affected the performance of the premier blue chip John Keells Holdings PLC’s (JKH) September quarter (2Q19), although the higher interest income and a tax reversal at the group’s insurance subsidiary boosted the bottom line.

Sri Lanka among countries with largest currency depreciations

Moody’s Investors Service has placed Sri Lanka among the countries in the world with the largest fall in value of their currencies against the US dollar in 2018, and stressed that the implementation of reforms that address both fiscal and external imbalances will remain key to supporting sovereign credit profile of the country.  Moody’s has a ‘B1’, a s

Professionals urged to take up active role in governance

United National Party (UNP) parliamentarian Eran Wickramaratne recently urged Sri Lankan professionals to play an active role in governance to nudge the country into the right direction, stressing that the business of the government is also the business of professionals. 

Sri Lanka risks EU trade concessions if any back-sliding on rights

(Colombo) REUTERS: The European Union will consider stripping Sri Lanka of its duty-free access if it backs off commitments on rights, the EU ambassador said, amid worries stoked by the President’s replacing of the elected premier by a wartime nationalist. The European Unio