The members of the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) have received approximately 9.0 percent return on their balances in 2020 after receiving 9.5 percent in 2019, as the Central Bank vowed to maintain an attractive return for the incumbent year as we

Cinnamon Bentota Beach, a property of Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts, welcomed guests yesterday, becoming the first hotel in Sri Lanka to welcome a group of tourists, with the opening of the Bandaranaike International Airport.

First Capital Holdings PLC yesterday revealed plans to raise up to Rs.2 billion via a listed debt issue.

Sri Lanka yesterday reopened its doors to international travellers for the first time since the pandemic struck, and the tourism sector is hopeful that with the kick start, it will be able to make a double-digit percentage contribution to the nationa

British-born financier and a member of Rothschild family, Nathaniel Rothschild said his recent visit to Sri Lanka was to explore the country’s suitability as a manufacturing location for electronics, while calling the island nation “a true gem wi

The motivation for Special Economic Zones, also commonly referred to as SEZs, stems from an innovative idea: to overcome distortions in policy and infrastructure constraints in domestic economies.

Sri Lanka has recorded an income of US $ 9.9 billion from merchandise exports in 2020, surpassing the US $ 9.5 billion new target set in the middle of the year, after the pandemic crippled trade flows, forcing the authorities to revise down the US $

Sri Lanka’s vehicle registrations recorded a slight recovery in December 2020, compared to the previous month, as the Motor Traffic Department reopened in the month, following its closure in November, with the outbreak of the second wave of COVID-1

The latest in a string of measures by the Monetary Board to ensure that the banks operate with adequate liquidity and capital, the Central Bank (CB) this week issued fresh guidelines suspending any cash dividend payouts or profit repatriations for 20

The Labour Ministry wants the Health Ministry to consider relaxing certain health guidelines to expedite the repatriation of Sri Lankan migrant workers living abroad.

Sri Lanka’s foreign reserve buffers have improved by US $ 200 million during December to end the year with a total reserve position of US $ 5.7 billion, a safe level compared to all the headwinds during 2020.

Despite the endless attempts to portray that the government was losing money from the income tax cut granted at the beginning of 2020, the government collected significantly more tax income from corporate income taxes in 2020, reinforcing the fact th

Sri Lanka presents a unique contrarian investment opportunity for global investors to diversify their risk exposure this year, despite the rating downgrades by global credit rating agencies, which were based on their standard financial models, accord

While deciding to keep policy rates unchanged at the maiden policy meeting held for this year on Monday, the Monetary Board of the Central Bank yesterday announced the introduction of lending targets for small business to accelerate the money flow in

Sri Lanka ended 2020 with a record high income from migrant workers in four years, with December marking the highest income ever earned in a month, amid early forecasts of significant decline in such earnings.

The Cabinet nod has been granted to amend the Financial Transactions Reporting Act No. 06 of 2006, Prevention of Money Laundering Act No. 05 of 2006, and Convention on the Suppression of Terrorist Financing Act No. 25 of 2005.

The COVID-19 pandemic that slowed down the national economy largely due to lockdown related disruptions has left a significant negative impact on the country’s startup segment with over 25 percent of the upcoming entrepreneurs pushed to close down

The foreign direct investments (FDI) into Sri Lanka increased to US$ 548 million in January through November, from US$ 345 million end-June in 2020, but not enough to meet the revised US$ 750 million target set for this year.

The Cabinet of Ministers approved a proposal to extend tariff relief to Mongolia under the Asia-Pacific Trade Accord (APTA) and to conduct negotiations with the country to identify tariff concessions that could be mutually agreed upon by both parties

Denying any negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) or any type of bailout packages, Central Bank Governor Prof. W.D. Lakshman yesterday said Sri Lanka would prefer to deal with its foreign excha

A US$ 1.5 billion fresh currency swap arrangement that is being worked out with the People’s Bank of China (PBC) could be just two weeks away from finalising, while another swap with India for US$ 300 million is awaiting India’s Finance Ministry

The unprecedented disruptions of COVID-19 are causing a geopolitical reset — and as the global order is redrawn, small emerging market economies like Sri Lanka are vulnerable to the fallout. Sri Lanka straddles vital shipping routes and is at the c

Sri Lanka’s extensive network of public healthcare workers has been the underlying force behind the country’s pandemic response. This series of articles, beginning with the Puttalam district, aims to capture the ground realities of pandemic manag

Hats off to Prime Minster Mahinda Rajapaksa for at last realising that hard truth that “we would have been better off economically, had the country adopted a policy of focusing on producing import alternatives – rather than depending on other cou

The indices at the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) entered new territory yesterday, breaking all the previous records, while recording over Rs.12 billion turnover for the second consecutive day, amid heightened market activity.

The Labour Ministry has initiated discussions with the relevant stakeholders to limit the current workweek to five days while maintaining maximum weekly working hours to 45.

Fitch Ratings yesterday said the roll-out of fifth generation (5G) mobile network in Sri Lanka is likely to be delayed beyond 2022.

Former Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera has endorsed the decision taken by the government led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to develop the East Container Terminal (ECT) of the Colombo Port with the involvement of foreign investors.

Sri Lanka will offer the “quarantine-free” experience to foreign tourists when the country opens its airports this Thursday for commercial flights, the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) said.

Equity analysts have joined economists to caution against the possible fallout of overdoing monetary policy easing, as it could be a recipe for sparking inflation, leading to overheating of the economy.