Reinforcing customer-centricity in providing excellent services, SLT-Mobitel Mobile has become the first in Asia to receive the international ISO 18295-1:2017 quality standard for its Customer Contact Centre (CCC) operations recently. Additionally, SLT-Mobitel was also awarded ISO 9001:2015 for demonstrated ability to meet customer, statutory and regulatory standards.
In yet another progressive step bringing about a giant leap within the Sri Lankan education domain and marking a first in the country, Dialog Enterprise introduced Convergence Tech Identity (CTI), a revolutionary digital education credentials service, in partnership with Convergence.Tech, the Canadian consulting and technology company working across Digital Transformation, Identity, Credentials, and Traceability.
Shrugging off concerns raised by certain parties in recent times over the country’s ability to meet its foreign currency debt obligations falling due next year, the Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal said the provisions had already been made and thus nobody should have any doubts over the country’s ability to service its debt.
Capping weeks of expectations for a rate hike by certain quarters, the Central Bank decided to maintain the current monetary policy unchanged this week in a sign of bias towards supporting the recovery of the economy beset by the pandemic and told the current bout of inflation is, “transitory”.
Insurance companies could see some near-term pressure on their top lines and thereby their earnings, from the proposed new taxes on the corporates in Budget 2022 but they are unlikely to hurt their capitalisation levels, which strengthened during the pandemic, according to Fitch Ratings.
While Sri Lanka had made progress in bringing its official jobless rate down, the issues facing the workers appear to run deeper as many who lost their employment due to the pandemic-induced economic restrictions appear to have given up looking for work, a segment, which isn’t captured in the official unemployment rate.
The weekly Averaged Weighted Prime Lending Rate (AWPLR) eclipsed the 8.0 percent level last week, signalling that the present upturn in the market lending rates has more room to run its course, on the back of the prolonged shortages in the rupee and dollar market liquidity and persistently higher prices.
The proposed ban on importation of rubber-based products and the parallel promotion of investments into local production of rubber related finished goods may not yield the desired results as the country is already scrambling to meet the demand for natural rubber needed to power its existing value addition industries, according to an industrialist.
In an apparent attempt taken at dovetailing the fiscal policy for next year with the monetary policy, which is increasingly getting skewed towards more tightening with foreign exchange challenges and inflationary pressures, the budget presented last week aims at supporting the interest rates at single digit levels.
In the absence of policy guidance, the government has failed miserably to build up its foreign reverses in contrast to other South Asian governments, which have beefed up reserves to meet the external challenges, a senior Opposition lawmaker charged.
Experts in tax and businesses on Monday attempted to come into grips with the proposed Social Security Contribution in the budget presented last week as the broad-based application could lead to enormous damage to several crucial sections of businesses and industries such as retail and exports, which are already grappling with low margins and competitiveness.
Sri Lanka’s trade deficit declined for the first time in six months on a year-on-year (YoY) basis in September to US $ 495 million, from US $ 525 million a year ago, as export income continued to grow in the month while import expenditure remained static.
The one time surcharge tax imposed retrospectively on individuals and companies from the budget 2022 immediately ignited debate to make it the hot button issue among private sector stakeholders due to its violation of basic tax principles such as equity and its application to the past incomes, as the proposal had caught many off guard.
Sri Lanka expects to reduce its fiscal deficit to 8.8 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022, down from the estimated 11.1 percent deficit in 2021, as the maiden budget of Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa looked to cut expenses and introduce measures to increase tax and other revenues.
The Central Bank and the commercial banks gave the government Rs.110 billion in September on a net basis, little lower than what the government borrowed a month ago as the debate is raging if the liquidity injections by the Central Bank to the government should be reined in to tackle the igniting inflation pressures and the current shortage of foreign exchange in the domestic market which contributed to the shortages of key commodities and other
The Central Bank yesterday said that plans are afoot to incentivise the Sri Lankan expatriates who ensure their remittances enter the country through formal channels, so that both the migrant workers and national economy can reap the benefits of a win-win situation.
Sri Lanka is confident it can replicate policies of the most advanced digital economy in East Asia, China, in its journey towards digital transformation, but challenges remain in incorporating the learnings into the national policy framework.
The relief measures implemented by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) and extended to the local businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic have crossed the Rs.4,000 billion mark, with the Saubagya loans amounting to over Rs.179 billion.
Foreign exchange reserves were measured at US$ 2,267.5 million by the end of October, down from US$ 2,704.2 million in September as the Central Bank settled US$ 492.9 million worth foreign liabilities during the month. Sri Lanka is scrambling to shore up its reserves amid slowdown in inflows due to the pandemic and rating downgrades.
Commercial Leasing and Finance PLC (CLC), a unit of LOLC Group, yesterday became the first listed entity to cross the Rs.500 billion mark in market capitalisation on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), while driving the benchmark All Share Price Index (ASPI) to an all-time high of 10,632.21 points at the market closure.
As more countries appear to be ditching the ‘zero-COVID’ strategy and beginning to deal with the virus as an endemic compared to a pandemic, rating agency ICRA Lanka recommends Sri Lanka to follow the same path as the worst of the pandemic appears to be over while the persistent pandemic era restrictions aren’t viable from the standpoint of its fledgling economy.
The availability of ready-to-eat wheat flour-based food products will take a considerable hit in the coming weeks, as the shortage of key ingredients to feed the supply chains of the confectionary and bakery sectors has pushed the manufacturers to cut down production, despite the high demand for such items.
The government is expected to present a non-traditional and transformational budget targeting a sizeable reduction in the country’s fiscal deficit for 2022 by focusing on further cutting down non-essential and non-prioritised State expenditures while maintaining the stable policy environment including the tax policy.
There are signs that the prolonged and unprecedented monetary and fiscal policy support extended to blunt the negative impacts on the pandemic on the broader economy has reached its limits, as the excesses are emerging by way of rising fiscal deficit, public debt and inflation, according to a World Bank economist.
Inflation in the Colombo district surged in October after the government lifted price controls on many essentials while there were clear effects on prices from the easing of lockdowns as people ventured out for outdoor dining and other recreational activities after months of being hunkered down due to virus fears and related restrictions.
Issuing fresh rules on the repatriation and conversion of export proceeds, the Central Bank yesterday asked the exporters of both goods and services to convert their export proceeds into rupees, upon meeting a number of authorised payments in foreign exchange, on or before the seventh day of the following month, effective from October 28.
Moody’s Investors Service yesterday downgraded Government of Sri Lanka’s long-term foreign currency issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings to Caa2 from Caa1 under review for downgrade, concluding a review for downgrade initiated on July 19, 2021. The outlook is Stable.
It is vital to support Sri Lanka’s services and informal sectors, which form the largest share of the economy, to recover from the pandemic-induced hardships, as they remain the hardest-hit from the once-in-a-century health crisis, according to a World Bank economist.
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
India-Sri Lanka ferry service operates smoothly