September apparel exports up; industry confident of US $ 5.5bn export earnings

Sri Lanka’s apparel export earnings grew 9.2 percent year-on-year (YoY) to US $ 451 million in September—the second highest growth rate recorded so far for this year backed by a dou

MR signals return to inward-looking economic policy

Assuming duties as the Finance and Economic Affairs Minister yesterday, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa hinted towards his plans to return Sri Lanka to the inward-looking economy that he had built during his presidency from 2005 to 2014. While acknowledging the important role foreign direct investment could play in Sri Lanka’s economic advancement, Rajapaksa said domestic production and the agriculture sector activities would be actively

Sri Lanka’s political crisis triggers major economic concerns

(Colombo/Mumbai) REUTERS: A decision by Sri Lanka’s President to fire the Prime Minister has raised doubts among global investors and credit analysts about the near-term economic health of a 

Moody’s says current political impasse credit negative

International rating agency Moody’s Investors Service yesterday said the political crisis unfolding in Sri Lanka with the sudden appointment of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa in place of Ranil Wickremesinghe is credit negative for the sovereign.   

Change in political landscape to create short-lived hype at bourse

Industry experts say the Colombo bourse is expected to have vibrant activity today, following the sudden and unexpected change in the country’s political landscape, but the majority opined the hype would be short-lived.

Sri Lanka’s first Per Day Motor Insurance launched

Insureme.lk, Sri Lanka’s first online platform for comparing insurance policies, launched  the Per Day Motor Insurance in partnership with Dialog Axiata PLC, Sri Lanka’s premier connectivity provider,

RPCs push for productivity based wage model

The Regional Plantation Companies (RPC) urge estate labour unions to embrace a productivity-based wage model in order to achieve a daily wage above Rs. 1000, which would also boost low productivity levels of RPCs. Addressing a press conference in Colombo yesterday, Planters’ Association (PA) Chairman Sunil Poholiyadde revealed that negotiati

EU urges govt. to push forward with economic reform agenda despite challenges

European Union (EU) Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives Tung-Lai Margue said that the government must give priority to its economic reform agenda and should forge ahead with it, despite the challenges in the country’s political environment. 

Govt. to call tenders to develop 2 oil and gas discoveries

The Petroleum Resources Development Ministry will call international tenders shortly for a 2,924 square kilometre offshore M2 block in the Mannar Basin to develop the two oil and gas discoveries and for further explorations.  

Ceramic & glass industry urges govt. to re-evaluate trade liberalisation agenda

The apex body of Sri Lanka’s ceramic and glass industry recently urged the government to re-evaluate its trade liberalisation agenda, tax structure and energy prices to boost exports and to c

Seylan Colombo Motor Show

Sri Lanka’s largest international automotive event, the ‘Seylan Colombo Motor Show 2018’ opened at the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial Exhibition Centre, BMICH yesterday. This year’s 

Budget boost for Enterprise Sri Lanka, Gamperaliya

The government is planning to give a further boost to its Enterprise Sri Lanka (ESL) loan scheme and Gamperaliya rapid rural development programme from the 2019 budget, aiming to stimulate the domestic economy in a sustainable manner.  Finance and Mass Media Minister Mangala Sama

Sri Lanka Retail Forum 2018 kicks off

The inauguration ceremony of Sri Lanka Retail Forum 2018, organised by the Sri Lanka Retailers’ Association (SLRA), took place last evening, with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesi

Budget promises lagging; state of FinMin’s ‘Implementation Unit’ unknown

The government has yet again failed to implement the vast majority of the budget promises, even with an ‘Implementation Unit’, which was supposed to have been established under the Finance and Mass Media Ministry, to specifically track the progress of the budget proposals and report on them. 

Budget promises lagging; state of ‘Implementation Unit’ unknown

The government has yet again failed to implement the vast majority of the budget promises, even with an ‘Implementation Unit’ which was supposed to have been established under the Finance and Mass Media Ministry to specifically track the progress of the budget proposals and report on them.  With only 8 percent of

Lankan entrepreneurs lack crucial business skills to commercialise innovations: academic

The Sri Lankan entrepreneurs lack crucial business skills to take new innovations to the market despite coming up with a large number of innovations and excelling in international competitions, a top academic pointed out. Moratuwa University’s Enterprise Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship Director Dr. Thusitha Sugathapala said that Sri Lankans have been good at innovating products but however have so far failed in commer

Sri Lanka urged to look at becoming leading regional arbitration centre

Sri Lanka was recently urged to explore its potential to position the country as a leading arbitration centre in the region, capitalising on the country’s strategic location and political neutrality, which would enhance foreign inflows to the country.  “Arbitration could b

Sri Lanka-Kuwait talks urge bigger role for private sector

The second session of Kuwait-Sri Lanka Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) held in Kuwait concluded on a “highly positive note,” the Department of Commerce of Sri Lanka (DoC) stated yeste

Mangala highlights impact of natural disasters amid trade wars, high energy prices

Finance and Mass Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera yesterday appealed to the Commonwealth of Nations to redouble the efforts to support smaller nations to mitigate risks arising from increasingly frequent natural disasters in the backdrop of an uncertain global environment marked by trade wars and high energy prices.  Addressing the Commonwealth Finan

Price controls on foodstuffs —a political gimmick?

The price controls slapped on a number of foodstuffs are of limited value despite their popular rhetoric, given the low adherence of traders towards the administered prices and lax enforcement actions by authorities, a recent survey conducted in Colombo and a few of the suburbs, revealed.   

MillenniumIT founder urges Lankans to shed ‘dog in the manger’ attitude

A highly successful local entrepreneur who made it to the global stage this week urged Sri Lankans not to become dogs in the manger for fellow Sri Lankans who aspire to progress and turnaround the country’s economy.

Corrupt bureaucrats, uncompetitive local industries blocking trade liberalisation

The largely uncompetitive local industries and corrupt bureaucrats are exploiting the public perception to delay trade liberalisation and the necessary reforms for their personal gains, as the government and academics have so far failed to engage the public in a policy dialogue to properly communicate the benefits of free trade. 

BOI terminates agreement with WCC to build Asia’s tallest building

The Board of Investment (BOI) has terminated the agreement with World Capital Centre (WCC) to build the Asia’s tallest building in Colombo with a US$ 2.4 billion investment.

BOI says corruption has nothing to do with derailing rail deal

The Board of Investment (BOI) yesterday denied corruption allegations relating to the 488 million euro mega integrated high-speed train manufacturing plant project’s approval process, 

Sri Lanka to liberalise multi-country consolidation operations shortly

The Ministry of Finance and Mass Media is likely to issue a gazette shortly opening up the less than container load (LCL) business, allowing multi-country consolidation (MCC) and entrepot trade to all players, which is seen as a vital step towards the realisation of Sri Lanka’s aspiration to become a maritime hub in the Indian Ocean. 

EPF to only invest in shares approved by Monetary Board

As the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) prepares for its re-entry into the country’s stock market, they would most likely to be “conservative” in their investment approach and invest only in shares of a list that is currently being prepared.

Central Bank says hopeful of 4% growth this year

Sri Lanka’s Central Bank is hopeful that the island nation’s US $87 billion economy would grow at least 4 percent this year, despite both International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) revising down their growth forecasts to 3.8 percent recently. Sri Lanka’s eco

HNB gets US $ 20mn ADB loan to fund microfinance sector

Hatton National Bank PLC (HNB) yesterday announced the signing of a new partnership agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in order to expand lending and provide guarantees of up to US $ 20 million to support the development of Sri Lanka’s burgeoning microfinance sector.

‘League of Multinational Corporates’ launched

A consortium of leading multinational corporations in Sri Lanka last week officially launched League of Multinational Corporates (LMNC), a business association that will promote the island nation’s economic potential and initiate a dialogue with the government on the issues and opportunities in the investment landscape.  

SL misses two key IMF targets as economy faces multiple challenges

Sri Lanka has missed two key International Monetary Fund (IMF) targets set for June end as part of her three-year bail out money, but the missed targets are unlikely to derail the stabilization programme as talks will continue between the p