Headline inflation as measured by the year-on-year (YoY) change in the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI, 2013=100) decreased to 5.9 percent in April 2020 from 7.0 percent in March 2020.

Premier blue chip John Keells Holdings (JKH) expects the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on its businesses to be “material” in the first and the second quarters of the financial year 2020/21, particularly on the group’s tourism focused businesses.

Sri Lanka’s April merchandise exports have fallen to their lowest levels since April 2002, recording a historical drop of 64 percent year-on-year (YoY) to US $ 277.4 million, driven by a record 81.8 percent YoY decline in apparel exports with tea e

The world’s biggest narrow fabric and elastics supplier to the garments industry, Stretchline Holdings, of which Sri Lanka’s MAS Holdings is a joint venture partner, has announced a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) at one of its plants in Sri La

Colombo’s iconic landmark and the single, largest, private mixed development investment in Sri Lanka, Cinnamon Life by the John Keells group, has resumed construction after a lockdown since March 2020.

Sri Lanka’s post-COVID-19 economic recovery policies must prioritise mitigating the hardship on masses, restoring economic stability and improving the investment climate for business with pragmatic policies instead of giving into vested interests a

The Colombo Tea Auction saw a total of 5.4 MnKg comprising of 9,304 lots come under the hammer this week, a dip compared to the 6.5 MnKg offered to the corresponding sale in 2019.

As Sri Lanka is eagerly looking forward to open its borders to get the national economy back on track, much of the efforts should be in positioning the country as a safe destination for which the airports must take effective measures to build confide

The Central Bank (CB) yesterday announced the implementation of extraordinary regulatory measures aimed at strengthening the liquidity positions of the licensed banks, to ensure the continued supply of credit and to meet the urgent liquidity needs of

Sri Lanka’s archaic labour laws need urgent revisiting and amendment where possible, a panel of high-profile lawyers said, as bulk of the laws that are in effect are hardly useful at this point of time where the ongoing health crisis is observed to

The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) yesterday closed trading in just 38 seconds when the market resumed trading following a 51-day break, with the S&P SL20 index breaching the 10 percent decline threshold amid the plunge in share prices, triggering cir

Disinfection work was seen carried out in Colombo Fort area yesterday as Colombo prepares to re-open for business albeit partly under the health sector authorities’ strict guidelines.

The Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, at a special meeting held yesterday, decided to reduce the Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) and Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) of the Central Bank by 50 basis points, to 5.50 percent an

The full recovery of listed entities of Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) is expected to drag up to June next year with anticipated long-term recovery of tourism, plantation, construction material and real-estate, consumer durables, apparel and retail sec

Contrary to the expectations that many would withdraw from their bank deposits to face the uncertain times created by the pandemic, the sector is seeing a build up of deposits, which the banks attributed to the limited spending opportunities availabl

Worker remittances to Sri Lanka fell sharply in March setting forth in what could be the beginning of a prolonged slowdown in the crucial foreign exchange income, which acted for decades as a buffer against massive foreign outflows on imports and the

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is proposing to set up a joint committee with the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) to identify the mechanisms required for the country’s stock market to operate its core functions digitally and enable cleari

The Central Bank (CB) has cautioned that the possible delays in presenting the government budget for 2020 would limit the space for implementing new fiscal measures for 2020, which are considered to be crucial to avert the adverse impact stemming fro

According to Moody’s Investors Service, Sri Lanka’s government has sought US $ 800 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over the next two years, under the latter’s Rapid Financing Facility, as the government is reorienting its ext

The Central Bank (CB) expects Sri Lanka’s economic growth to decline to 1.5 percent this year from 2.3 percent in 2019, possibly avoiding a coronavirus-induced recessions, although with severe impacts across sectors causing hardships for all stakeh

The worker remittances were recorded at US $ 527.3 million for the month of February, slightly higher than US $ 500.5 million received a year ago, the Central Bank data showed.

Sri Lanka’s small and medium-scale apparel exporters regret that they are yet to receive the relief package announced by the Gotabaya Rajapaksa-led government and it has caused several cash-strapped SME exporters to run into difficulties in paying

Fitch Ratings yesterday downgraded Sri Lanka’s Long-Term Foreign and Local Currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) to ‘B-’, from ‘B’ with a Negative Outlook, saying that the shocks from the coronavirus pandemic will aggravate the risks associ

Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) assures that all imported containers at Colombo Port are free of any terminal rent from March 16, 2020 to April 9 and in addition SLPA-operated Jaya Container Terminal has also exempted their imported containers from

A Colombo Municipal Council worker sprays disinfectant at the Manning Market in Pettah, which now remains closed, in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Sri Lanka has so far reported over 320 confirmed coronavirus positive patients -Pic by Prade

As tourism sector stakeholders are adopting measures to stay afloat, authorities have been capitalising on the time available to chart out comprehensive plans that aim at redefining the industry in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak that has dealt a c

Over 50,000 Sri Lankan migrant workers stranded mainly in the Gulf countries are anxiously awaiting to return to the country amid health risks, job losses and pay cuts caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, according to the latest reports.

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) has called for a broad economic recovery plan based on a shared vision of public and private sectors aimed at an accelerated post-COVID-19 recovery of the country’s economy.

Sri Lanka’s Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) remain wary of the sector’s outlook due to whopping crop losses which has led to increased cost of production despite recently improved tea auction prices.