Sri Lanka Takes Regional Lead In Financial Inclusion

Sri Lanka has the highest level of financial inclusion in South Asia with easy access to finance, according to a recently published Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) working paper.“In South Asia, only 33 percent of adults have an account at a formal financial institution—the second lowest share of the world’s regions, higher only t han Sub-Saharan Africa,” t he paper authored by Dr.Saman Kelegama and Ganga Tilakar

Stockbrokers Say No Reason To Panic

The political games taking place in the country seem to have created a sense of panic in the minds of some investors in the Colombo Stock Exchange, which should not be the case, according to top brokers, who seem to be largely unconcerned about the proceedings.“Various unconfirmed crossover stories have scared off retail investors but we still see a foreign inflow into the fundamentally strong stocks. We expect the market to rebound soon

Better Prospects For Consumer Durable Retailers In 2015

Sri Lanka’s consumer durable retailers will have better times with a more favourable business environment being created as a result of lower borrowing rates, reduced electricity tariffs and an upcoming cut in the ValueAdded Tax (VAT), according to Fitch Ratings Lanka Limited.

Grants Media clinched the ‘Media Buying Agency of the Year’ award at the World Marketing Congress 20

Grant Media, a member of the Grant Group was awarded the prestigious ‘Media Buying Agency of the Year’ award at the recently concluded World Marketing Congress (WMC), held at Taj Lands End, Mumbai.The annual event was organized by CMO Asia, which is dedicated to impart high level knowledge exchange through leadership and networking amongst senior Chief Marketing Officers and decision makers from different industry segments across 5

Jetwing Poised For Exponential Growth With New Hotels, Resorts

Jetwing Hotels Limited, the leisure arm of the Jetwing group, is expecting exponential growth in the next couple of years to come, owing to new hotels and may line up the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of its subsidiary Jetwing Symphony to coincide with it.“For the past five years, since the end of the war, we have had about 20 percent growth and now it’s about 5 to 10 percent. After these hotels are finished, it will be over 100 pe

Ground Breaking Ceremony of ITC Colombo One

The ground breaking ceremony for the iconic luxury hotel and residences, ITC Colombo One, took place today and was graced by Mr. Basil Rajapaksa, Minister for Economic Development, H.E. Mr. Y K Sinha, High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka and Mr. Y C Deveshwar, Chairman, ITC Limited, one of India’s largest multi-business enterprises. Several dignitaries lent their presence to this auspicious occasion including Hon. Mr. Lakshman Yapa Ab

CB Keeps Policy Rates On Hold

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka yesterday kept policy rates unchanged for the month of November amid credit growth in September picking up to 4.6 percent from 2.6 percent in August and October inflation remaining as low as 1.6 percent year-on-year.Accordingly, the Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) remains at 6.50 percent and Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) at 8 percent.Though keeping single digit inflation for 5 years is largely consid

Vat, Nbt Exemption To Hurt Beer Industry

The exemption of the Value-Added Tax (VAT) and Nation Building Tax (NBT) from the beer industry, coupled with the increase of excise duty to recover the lost government revenue, will form an adverse effect on the industry, according to Sri Lanka’s largest brewer, Lion Brewery (Ceylon) PLC.“For many years, the alcohol industry has been subjected to poorlythought-out policies. The adjustment is a case in point. These seem good on pap

Combank Records 21 Percent Profit Growth In 3Q

Commercial Bank PLC, Sri Lanka’s largest private bank with an asset base of Rs.748.6 billion, saw its September (3Q14) net profit increasing 20.85 percent yearon-year (yoy) to Rs.3.33 billion, according to interim financial accounts released to the Colombo Stock Exchange.

Fouzul Hameed to present exclusive ‘Concept 2015’ show this November(Video)

The FH Studio takes exclusive menswear to new heights with the second edition of its annual ‘Concept’ show. ‘Concept 2015’, a fashion show of international class is conceptualized by renowned men’s fashion consultant Fouzul Hameed and will enhance the Sri Lankan men’s fashion arena. ‘Concept 2015’ will be held on Saturday 22 November 2014 at Water’s Edge and will showcase an exclusive range

B’desh Says Speedier Trade Pact In Offing

Sri Lanka and Bangladesh could be inking either a preferential trade agreement (PTA) or a free trade agreement (FTA) in the near future, following talks between the newly appointed Bangladeshi High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Tarik Ashan and Industry and Commerce Minister Rishard Bathiudeen, a statement from the Industry and Commerce Ministry said.“At my final meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina just before my departure to Colombo, s

Growing Red List Deters Ornamental Fish Exports

The ever increasing list of fish species which have come under the threat of extinction – the Red List – has confined the growth of the ornamental fish exports, which bring as much as US $ 10 million foreign exchange and provide livelihoods to over 100,000 people in Sri Lanka, according to the country’s Industry and Commerce Minister.“One development is about the concerns expressed by some environmental activists about

Economic Census To Identify Sri Lanka’s Informal Sector

Sri Lanka’s first ever comprehensive economic census is currently being conducted by t he government’s main data collection organization, the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) with the main objective of identifying the informal economy among others.

SLT Rainbow Pages steps into digital media (Video)

Today, we can see that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) which is playing an enormous role in the digital era, is growing at an unprecedented pace. This has led people to access digital and social media as easy as never before through multitasking digital devices such as smartphones and tabs in addition to laptops and desktops. Among these devices, smartphones and tabs or tablet computers have become closer to people than a

Tea Board In Latin American Push

Sri Lanka’s apex state body for the promotion and regulation of Ceylon Tea, The Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB) has embarked on a campaign to promote the product in the vastly untapped Latin American continent that has a population over 600 million, where tea is the third preferred beverage, according to a top Tea Board official.For this purpose, a Latin American delegation containing 31 tea sector officials is in town to study about Ceylon T

Electricity Tariff Cut Brings October Inflation Down To 1.6%

The recent downward revision of residential electricity tariffs have eased the headline inflation for October, as it has come further down to historically lows of 1.6 percent year-on-year (YoY) from 3.5 percent in September, according to the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) data. The government announced a 25 percent electricity tariff reduction effective from September 16 and the full monthly impact of this is reflected in t he con

Srilankan Takes Delivery Of Airbus A330-300

As part of their fleet renewal program, the national carrier SriLankan Airlines yesterday took delivery of the new Airbus A330-300, under 12 years operating lease.This is the first of the series of seven Airbus A330-300s which SriLankan is planning to take delivery during t he next 14 months, and the second such aircraft will be added on t o its existing 23 fleet by the end of 2014.

zMessenger to host Sri Lanka’s first Mobile Marketing Roundtable

zMessenger, Sri Lanka’s largest mobile marketing solutions provider will bring together top brand leaders from FMCG, hospitality, banking and financial services to the Island’s first roundtable on mobile marketing scheduled for Thursday, 30th October, 2014

Top Economist Casts Doubts On Official Per Capita Income Figure

Highlighting a major inaccuracy i n t he national data compiled by the Census and Statistics Department (DCS), a leading economist in the country said Sri Lanka’s published per capita income (PCI) numbers are misleading and in fact the incomes have declined annually in ‘real terms’ since 2005.

DFCC Vardhana Bank PLC Breaks the Remittance Barrier

DFCC Vardhana Bank (DVB), Sri Lanka’s fastest growing commercial bank announces the introduction of the ground-breaking Lanka Money Transfer (LMT) service which will be available within the month of November 2014. This new offering is a remittance service which allows customers, both the sender and receiver to transfer money with ease, using the banks that they trust. 

Sri Lankan Equities To Grow 25% Next 5-years

Sri Lankan equity market returns will grow 25 percent annually during the 5-years up to 2020, and the country will be flooded with foreign capital as Sri Lanka will reach investment grade status, according to an experience fund manager.According to Dulindra Fernando, the Sri Lankan economy is going to see her best 5-years since independence from 2015 through 2020, and said one could ill afford to stay out of the stock market as the 5-years ahe

SLASSPA Chief urges professionalism; calls for restrictions on new security licenses

Top civilian security firms in the country agreed to increase the minimum wage of a security guard for a day, implement modern technology, and band t ogether against under quoting i n tenders; especially t o government institutions to ensure survival of t heir i ndustry, at t he inaugural Sri Lanka Security Service Providers’ Association (SLASSPA) CEO Forum which was held at the Hilton Residencies yesterday.

Etisalat Lanka proudly join hands with the Department of Pensions to empower the Nation's ‘Smart Pe

Etisalat Lanka, one of the leading mobile telecommunications service providers, in partnership with the Department of Pensions, launched a special bundled offer of products and services exclusively for pensioners at the National Pensioners’ Day event. 

CIC’s Life-Saving Kidney Dialysis Product

The Pharmaceutical department of CIC’s Healthcare division is creating a significant impact in Sri Lanka’s healthcare sector by providing people with a simple and convenient kidney dialysis product.

Empowering girls in Sri Lanka through Connect to Learn: Ericsson partners with Mobitel and Open Uni

Ericsson and the National Mobile Service provider, Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel today announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Ericsson.....

HNB Assurance tops 100,000 Facebook fans

HNB Assurance recently topped 100,000 fans on its interactive & popular Facebook page, thus becoming the only Insurance company in Sri Lanka to reach t his milestone and becoming the most active and successful Sri Lankan Insurance company in the sphere of Social Media.

TBWA Sri Lanka and PHD Sri Lanka in ‘BIG’ initiative for Elder’s Day

In most Asian countries, elders played a pivotal role in shaping our local communities. Sri Lanka was no exception, be it conducting rituals on special auspicious days or simply guiding and moulding the younger generation, elders were both revered and respected.

Colombo Agile Conference 2014 a resounding success

Sri Lanka’s largest gathering of ‘Agilists’ unfolded last month as the Colombo Agile Conference 2014, held for the second consecutive year, brought together over 400 IT professionals to dissect the latest trends and best practices in Agile software development – one of most popular development concepts in the world today.