A local stockbroking firm with a foreign partner said in a report that the appointment of Thilak Karunaratne as the new Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will be beneficial for the country’s capital market in the longer run.Stock brokerage Bartleet Religare Securities (Pvt.) Ltd (BRS), a joint venture between Sri Lanka’s Bartleet group and India’s Religare Capital, said the return of Karunaratne, who is ge
The trade deficit in November widened by US $ 186 million or 35 percent year-on-year (yoy), much slower than the previous month despite exports continuing to go south, data released by the Central Bank showed.November exports income fell 10.7 percent yoy to US $ 921 million, largely due to base effects. The import expenditure rose by a moderate 4.8 percent yoy to US $ 1.65 billion, as falling world oil prices took effect.
Thilak Karunaratne, who is to assume duties as Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) told Mirror Business that his first priority is to stabilize the country’s capital market. The announcement of Karunaratne’s return as SEC head has evidently sent shockwaves among some capital market stakeholders as he is perceived a tough regulator, tirelessly going after market malpractices, at times even at the risk of upsetting
In an interesting turn of events, the Central Bank (CB) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have been placed under Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe, who is also the Policy Planning, Economic Affairs, Child, Youth and Cultural Affairs Minister, breaking the tradition of keeping the two institutions with the Finance Minister.
The new government plans to resume discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on reducing the debt burden that bloated under the previous regime, Bloomberg said quoting Sri Lanka’s new Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake.According to Bloomberg, Karunanayake was scheduled to meet IMF officials yesterday.Sri Lanka’s total debt is estimated to be at Rs.7.2 trillion and the new President Maithripala Sirisena wants to reduce the
The Planters’ Association of Ceylon (PA) said t hat they will be lobbying for an alternative payment strategy such as a contract or an ownershipbased structure for estate workers, in face of unsustainable wage increases, during a round table discussion yesterday.“We need to move away from a wage-based payment structure,” Sunshine Holdings PLC CEO Dr. Dan Seevaratnam said.
The Central Bank last week informed all commercial banks in the country to cap the single senior citizen’s deposit value to Rs.1 million from the previously announced maximum of Rs.2.5 million, a Central Bank source told Mirror Business.
Tourism i ndustry experts have responded positively to the new regime’s decision to create a dedicated ministry for tourism under Minister Navin Dissanayake, and are hoping it would swiftly address issues and support the third highest exchange earner of the country.“I am very happy that there is a dedicated ministry. We haven’t met the Minister as of yet, but we’ll hopefully meet him early next week. He is a young, dynamic
Career civil servant and former Deputy Secretary to the Treasury Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunga yesterday assumed duties as the Finance Ministry Secretary.Samaratunga replaces longserving Dr. P.B. Jayasundera, the influential Finance Ministry Secretary under former Presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa and Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga.Samaratunga was previously the Secretary to the Petroleum Ministry and one-time Director at Bank of Ceylon.
The Sri Lankan banking sector is to see a reversal of most of the negatives experienced during last three years, and will usher in an era of prosperity with the pick-up in private sector credit growth, improving asset quality and rising returns.
yesterday, while exporters stayed away awaiting clear policy direction after the election, dealers said.Four-day forwards, which were actively traded, ended at 132.75/85 per dollar compared with Thursday’s close of at 132.80/90, dealers said.“It was very dull. Everybody is awaiting to see the policies of the new government,” a dealer said.
Asian equity markets mostly rallied yesterday, while oil prices enjoyed a rare fillip following a surge in New York and Europe on strong US data and expectations for fresh eurozone stimulus measures.Confidence was also given a much needed boost by minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s December meeting suggesting it will not hike interest rates before April.
Sri Lanka attracted 1,527,153 tourists for the past calendar year recording a 19.8 percent growth year-on-year (yoy), with India, UK and China leading the pack, according to statistics released by Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority yesterday.While December observed the highest number of visitors for the year at 178,672, it recorded the fifth lowest monthly growth number at 16.1 percent yoy.State holidays and travel patterns of the exploding
The Chinese-funded Magam Ruhunupura Mahinda Rajapaksa Port (MRMRP) in Hambantota has recorded revenue of Rs.5.39 billion for the year 2014, compared to Rs.585.2 million in 2013, statistics released by Sri Lanka Ports Authority showed (SLPA).
Private businesses will be able to operate without any political influence under a new government formed by t he Common Opposition, according to Common Opposition Presidential Candidate Maithreepala Sirisena and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe, who were speaking at ‘Unite,’ the opposition’s forum held at Cinnamon Lakeside for the private sector yesterday.
The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) listed entities upped their total earnings for the quarter ended September 30, 2014 by as much as 51.3 percent to Rs.51.1 billion from the same quarter in 2013, according to a 3Q earnings update released by an independent research firm.This is an acceleration from a 21.7 percent year-on-year (YoY) earnings increase in the second quarter of 2014, Capital Alliance Securities (Private) Limited’s research uni
Sri Lanka’s small investors will soon be able to invest in large scale real-estate such as office space, shopping malls and apartment complexes through the stock exchange, as the capital market regulator, is currently working with the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) to introduce a realestate-based securities product next year.
Political continuity, good governance, stability and end of corruption were the key messages conveyed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa when top businessmen rallied towards his cause yesterday at a business forum titled ‘Momentum’ - Asia’s Largest Synchronized Forum hosted by ‘Professionals for a Stable Sri Lanka’.
Hatton National Bank PLC (HNB) has entered into an agreement with Korea’s Export-Import Bank (KEXIM) to establish a revolving credit line of US $50 million to finance trade between Sri Lanka and Korea, becoming the first bank in Sri Lanka to do so.The master interbank credit agreement was signed in Colombo by HNB Chairperson Dr.Ranee Jayamaha, and MD/CEO Jonathan Alles on behalf of HNB and KEXIM Senior Executive Director Young-whanSul on
Sri Lanka’s Central Bank yesterday left its key policy rates unchanged for the eleventh consecutive month in December on account of strong economic growth, pick up in credit growth and the benign inflation, but did not rule out the possibility of another round of easing towards the next year.As a result, the monetary board left the key policy rates—the Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) and Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR)
Malaysia’s Maju group signed an agreement to transfer technology, experience and expertise related t o public transport infrastructure probono to the Sri Lankan Transport Ministry to create an integrated transportation hub in Colombo.
The first Vietnamese trade delegation to the country is currently holding talks with its Sri Lankan counterparts at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce to further strengthen bilateral trade and investment between the two countries.“The bilateral trade volume has been growing at a remarkable 30 percent annually. This is the highest growth of bilateral trade in South Asia,” Vietnam Ambassador for Sri Lanka Phan Kieu Thu said.
Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka during the month of November rose 9.4 percent year-on-year (YoY) to 119,727 visitors while total arrivals for the first 11 months of the year stood at 1.34 million, up 20.3 percent YoY, the official tourism data showed. Sri Lanka targets 1.5 million tourists at the end of this year and 2.5 million by 2016. To achieve this year’s target Sri Lanka needs 151,519 tourists visiting the country in December. The hi
Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) yesterday launched its Rs.150 million state-ofthe-art, new generation Central Depository System (CDS) supplied and maintained by Millenium IT, with an upgrade to the Automated Trading System (ATS).“With t he launch of t he new CDS and ATS, we have become world-class,” CSE Chairman Vajira Kulatilaka said.CSE launched its first CDS, funded by USAID, in 1991 and was the first in Asia and eighth in the worl
Canada issues travel advisory over serious risk in Arugam Bay
More countries issue travel advisories
Sri Lanka Tourism invites global travellers for upcoming season
Russian embassy urges citizens to stay vigilant in Arugam Bay
US Embassy issues travel warning for Arugam Bay
Immigration authorities to crack down on overstaying Russians, Israelis
Sri Lanka may face another economic turmoil: Sajith