Always on the losing side…

Sri Lanka celebrated the International Labour Day on May 1 and all major political parties held rallies to mark it. Despite the massive crowds that attended these rallies,

A woman and her two children walk past a line of Mercedes-Benz cars

A woman and her two children walk past a line of Mercedes-Benz cars during the annual Mercedes-Benz pageant in Colombo this Sunday 

BOI hosts meeting with leading Chinese chamber of commerce

The Board of investment of Sri Lanka hosted a delegation from the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) Beijing Chapter that was visiting Sri Lanka to study the potential for trade and investments between the two countries.  

FinMin says double digit foreign reserves by end of this year

Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves are expected to reach double digits by the end of this year through borrowings, investment inflows and fund repatriations, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said yesterday.

Central Bank releases annual report for 2016

The Central Bank annual report for the year 2016 was handed over to Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake by Central Bank Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy, yesterday.

Sri Lanka features big in Shangri-La’s Indian Ocean push

Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, the Hong Kong-based luxury hotel operator, revealed extensive details about its exciting pipeline of new luxury properties across the Indian Ocean and Asia at a press conference held yesterday at the Arabian Travel Market 2017, which is currently underway.

Need for extensive study on tourism carrying capacity highlighted

Sri Lanka will require an extensive study on the country’s tourism carrying capacity, a top government official told Mirror Business recently, amid the ongoing government plans to attract higher volumes of tourists to the country.

IMF, WB hailed Sri Lanka’s economic development performance, says Ravi K

The current economic performance of Sri Lanka was given a special praise during the biannual summit of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank at Washington DC, which concluded yesterday, a Finance Ministry statement said, quoting Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake. 

Asian markets chase record Wall St close on hopes for US stimulus

Asian markets built on a Wall Street rally yesterday as geopolitical fears gave way to fresh hopes for Donald Trump’s stimulus after his top finance man said a US tax reform plan would be released “very soon”.

South Korean giant SK Group to invest US$ 30-40mn in Micro Holdings

Amid the dearth of foreign investments to Sri Lanka, SK Group, a Fortune 500 company and South Korea’s 3rd largest diversified conglomerate yesterday announced that it will be making a US$30-40 million equity investment in local car manufacturing and assembly pioneer Micro Holdings (Pvt) Ltd. “It is an honour to partner with Micro. We are hoping to help Micro expand its production facilities, its industry related clusters and new proj

GSP Plus hangs in balance as govt. treads slow on sensitive issues

The European Union (EU) is still concerned about the progress Sri Lanka has made in its human rights commitments with less than 4 weeks to go till the culmination of Sri Lanka’s Generalized 

Hayleys to acquire Singer Sri Lanka for Rs.12.5bn

Diversified conglomerate Hayleys PLC, continuing with its buying spree, yesterday struck a mega deal to acquire a 71 percent stake in leading consumer durables retailer Singer (Sri Lanka) PLC (SSL) in a whopping Rs.12.5 billion deal.

Price checks by FinMin!

Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake made surprise visits to several supermarkets in Colombo on April 9 to ascertain whether the standard commodity prices are maintained in the market.

Ravi and Rishad on inspection tour

Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake and Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen went on an inspection tour in Pettah yesterday.It was aimed at checking whether sufficient stocks of essential goods are available for the festive season  

SriLankan celebrates resumption of all day operations at BIA

SriLankan Airlines yesterday celebrated the return to all day operations at its hub in Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) by feting all passengers who arrived on the first flight of the day with traditional Sri Lankan milk rice and sweetmeats. 

Hilton inks landmark deal to manage six Lankan properties

The local tourism scene will see the addition of a series of luxury properties within the next five years with the global hospitality giant, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, yesterday inking a deal with a local property developer to manage six top-notch leisure properties. 

Cargills commissions SL’s largest multi-product dairy manufacturing plant

The Cargills group this week commissioned the country’s largest multi-product dairy manufacturing plant in Banduragoda, Gampaha, as a part of its Rs.3 billion dairy expansion project which began two years ago. 

Ceylon Tea global tea promotional campaign delayed yet again

Sri Lanka’s tea industry has hit another stumbling block with the much-awaited global promotional campaign being put off for another few more months due to the shortcomings in the tender procedures and questionable capabilities of some of the selected service providers, Mirror Business learns.  

Govt. tax policy blocking inclusive growth bashed

An economist has criticized the government’s tax policy on vehicle imports and the recent credit restrictions imposed on vehicle financing, 

Exchanging scrapped notes

An Indian woman reads a notice board as she stands in a queue outside the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to exchange old 500 and 1000 currency notes in Mumbai on yesterday. 

Lake House Printers and India’s Manipal Technologies launch digital banking solution

India’s Manipal Technologies Limited (MTL) in association with Sri Lanka’s Lake House Printers and Publishers PLC (LHPP) yesterday launched a cutting-edge digital banking solution to cater to the growing needs of the Lankan banks and their customers.

Four airlines show interest in SriLankan, but not convincing, says Hashim

The national carrier, SriLankan Airlines, which has been experiencing massive turbulences lately, has attracted interest from two international airlines and two regional airlines, a top minister in the coalition government said. 

EIB pledges to ramp up investments in Sri Lanka

The world’s largest multilateral lender, the European Investment Bank (EIB), will be ramping up its funding to Sri Lanka due to the efforts made by the government, the head of the bank’s delegation currently in town said yesterday during a media briefing held at the Finance Ministry.

More tourism gains for SL

Tourists watch a Sri Lankan elephant walk through a field in the Minneriya National Park. Sri Lanka earned US $ 3.52 billion from tourism in 2016 on the back of little over two million tourists visiting the country (AFP)

Pride of ownership!

A woman checks out a classic Volkswagen Beetle during the 18th ‘Pride of Ownership Drive’ parade held in Colombo yesterday. The event was organized by the Volkswagen Beetle Owners’ Club   

A school girl leaves a white rose

A school girl leaves a white rose in front of a commemoration plaque with the names of the Germanwings crash victims on the second anniversary of the accident in the French Alpes,

Fast-changing Colombo landscape

An aerial shot of the Colombo Port City or Colombo International Financial City, of which the land reclamation is underway. 

Prices set to rise more

A banana vendor in Colombo reads a newspaper. Sri Lanka’s countrywide consumer prices rose 8.2 percent in February with food prices rising 0.31 percent,

February consumer prices soar 8.2% prompting Monetary Board to act fast

The food and non-food prices measured by the national consumer price index surged 8.2 percent during the 12 months to February 2017, jumping from 6.5 percent from a year ago, the data released by the statistics office showed. 

CSE says first leg of capital market promotion in Australia a success

The ‘Invest Sri Lanka’ investor forum hosted in Sydney yesterday by the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) in association with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) drew over 150 participants including institutional investors, high-net-worth individuals, Sri Lankans living in Sydney and other individuals with a business interest in Sri Lanka.