As businesses across the country are suffering from the economic and financial fallout from the global pandemic, which is expected to continue beyond 2020, the demand for loans by the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector is heating up, a top offi

Fuelled by the strong growth in its healthcare sector, diversified Sri Lankan conglomerate Sunshine Holdings PLC reported a notable growth in the bottom line performances during the year ended March 31, 2020 (FY19/20).

The sharp contraction in global trade witnessed over the last few months has resulted in the Goods Trade Barometer of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to sink to the red zone and shows no signs of the decline bottoming out in the near future.

Seylan Bank PLC had turned cautious during the quarter ended March 31, 2020 (1Q20), amid the challenges expected a year ahead, as the bank reported a modest operating performance with a negative growth in new loans, the interim financial accounts rel

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with People’s Bank this week to facilitate the members of the institute to obtain a special loan of up to Rs.20 million.

Colombo-based free market think tank Advocata yesterday recommended the government to remove the tax levied on women’s menstrual hygiene products, on the Menstrual Hygiene Day, which falls today.

A potential bankruptcy filing by the US-based premium lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret (VS), which accounts for around 20 percent of Sri Lanka’s apparel exports, is threatening the country’s overall apparel export performance and the bottom lin

The Pathfinder Foundation (PF) recently presented a report to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and Special Envoy of President and Chairman of Task Force on Economic Revival and Poverty Alleviation Basil Rajapaksa, contai

COVID-19 has battered the world with its viral and deadly impact, with millions of people being affected and hundreds of thousands dying. At the same time, the virus and its aftermath has wrecked the economies of almost all countries and is now leavi

Along with the massive shock, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought in a series of uncertainties, particularly with regards to employment. With strict limitations being enforced on people’s movement by way of a two-month-long curfew to constraint the v

COVID-19 is dealing an unprecedented blow to economies around the globe and the health risk is only the tip of the iceberg. Among the many impending crises resulting from the pandemic, rising food insecurity, due to the lockdown measures, is one of t

As Sri Lanka looks to steer though the pandemic with lowest impact possible, the Export Development Board (EDB) called on the government to create a more enabling policy environment and place exports as a national priority.

Sri Lanka has emerged as the most expensive country for legal cigarettes in 2019, based on purchasing power parity (PPP), causing a 6 percent year-on-year (YoY) decline in the tobacco market share of the country’s monopoly cigarette player, Ceylon

Sri Lanka’s pepper prices have sharply dropped from US$ 4,000 to US$ 3,000 per tonne with the beginning of the harvest season despite the ban on pepper imports into the country.

The Ceylon Tea export target for 2020 will not be revised despite the COVID-19 crisis having hit the global economy, and the Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB) said it is confident that the industry stakeholders would step up efforts, specially in value addi

Laugfs Gas PLC has appointed Piyadasa Kudabalage as the Group Managing Director/Group CEO with effect from May 25, 2020 as a part of a group management succession plan, the company revealed filing a disclosure in the Colombo Stock Exchange yesterday

Ceylon Cold Stores PLC has shelved an ambitious plan to double the number of Keells supermarkets in two years in the wake of coronavirus induced business disruptions and the financial pain it inflicted on modern retail business with social distancing

Further easing of countries’ coronavirus lockdowns pushed equities higher yesterday, with the reopening of bars, cafes, pools and beaches overshadowing China-US tensions that weighed on the dollar.

Probably in a first in the history of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), the controlling shareholder of a listed company plans to vote against an already declared dividend payment by the firm’s board of directors, at the upcoming AGM.

The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) yesterday said trading hours would be extended to 2:30 p.m., with effect from today, with pre-open sessions from 10:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and open auction starting from 11:00 a.m.

National telecommunications services provider, Sri Lanka Telecom PLC (SLT), has decided to restructure two of its subsidiaries and its ride-hailing venture, SLT muve, after evaluating the past performances and considering the opportunities and challe

Ceylinco Life has announced the payment of Rs.2.87 billion in gross benefits and claims to policyholders in the three months ending March 31, 2020, an increase of 17.7 percent over the first quarter of 2019.

Most Asian markets rose yesterday as a further opening up of economies from lockdown offset worries over worsening China-US tensions, while Hong Kong traders stayed cautious following weekend protests over a controversial proposed security law.

The well-diversified nature helped Aitken Spence PLC to weather two back-to-back crises within one financial year but its leisure sector tilt still had a bearing on the group’s performance, as its tourism business weighed on the group’s revenues

Worker remittances to Sri Lanka in April declined close to a third in what could be the most pronounced fall recorded in a single month, according to the Central Bank data.

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.

Hong Kong led a sell-off across world equities yesterday after China introduced proposals to enact a national security law for the city, fanning geopolitical tensions and overshadowing optimism about a further easing of virus lockdowns across Europe

China’s communist rulers avoided setting an annual growth target for the first time in decades yesterday, as they struggle to deal with the “immense” economic challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The eurozone’s economic slump has “likely bottomed out” after the bloc suffered a disastrous collapse under lockdowns to contain coronavirus, a closely watched survey by IHS Markit said this week.