The Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) yesterday approved ADB’s financial statements and the allocation of its 2019 net income in its first-ever virtual Annual Meeting held amid the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

To step up safety standards for riders and drivers during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Uber Sri Lanka has procured and started distributing safety supplies such as masks and sanitisers worth Rs.10 million, free of cost to driver and delivery partne

Lanka IOC has decided to restore the prices of petrol 92 on par with CPC petrol sheds by reducing Rs.5 per litre from midnight yesterday (22).

The Monetary Board of the Central Bank yesterday announced the cancellation of licence of The Finance Company PLC (TFC) with effect from May 22, 2020 as the company failed to lure in credible investors to rectify its serious erosion of liquidity.

Stock markets mostly fell yesterday after rallying for much of the week, with any gains dragged by profit-taking amid concerns over the long-term impact of the virus and worsening China-US relations.

The local banking sector will continue to witness further challenges in its path towards any progress. However, despite the hurdles faced, the industry must look at supporting businesses and individuals by aligning its current operating model to the

The S&P SL20 Index of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) gained 6.28 percent during trading yesterday, bettering the record for the highest ever daily percentage gain of the index which stood at 5.25 percent, set on May 18, 2020.

Prime Group has made history becoming the first institution in the Sri Lankan real estate industry to receive a prestigious issuer rating of [A-] Stable from ICRA Lanka, a group company of Moody’s Investors Service.

Sri Lanka’s Board of Investment (BOI) says positive foreign investor response has been received for the fabric processing park to be setup in Eravur, Batticaloa to source fabrics locally for apparel exporters.

Sri Lanka may benefit from an early buyback of US$1 billion dollar-denominated international sovereign bond (ISB) maturing this October, although buying back ISBs which are maturing in medium to long-term remains unfeasible considering the country’

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.

In his first interview with the media, the newly appointed Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Viraj Dayaratne PC talks about the unprecedented challenges he and his new Commission Members had to face and the tough decisions they had to

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce submitted its multi-sectoral proposals to the Task Force for Economic Revival and Poverty Alleviation. This was building on the submission made to the President on a Shared Vision for Post-COVID-19 Economic Recovery.

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

Recovery is beyond the 2020 horizon for Sri Lankan corporates and expected is a sharp decline in revenue for most sectors, credit rating agency Fitch Ratings said.

Commercial Bank of Ceylon has announced a reduction of lending rates across the board in response to the present needs of individual and corporate borrowers and in line with the downward trend of interest rates in Sri Lanka.

Ceylon Cold Stores PLC (CCS) reported strong top and bottom line performance for the three months to March 2020, with increased consumer spending amid tax cuts and lower interest rates.

National Development Bank PLC’s (NDB) operating profits held steady during the three months to March 31, 2020, despite the pressure on margins and higher credit costs stemming from the coronavirus-linked additional provisions against possible bad l

Global human development, which can be measured as a combination of the world’s education, health and living standards, could decline this year for the first time since the concept was introduced in 1990, the United Nations Development Programme (U

Standard & Poor’s (S&P) yesterday lowered Sri Lanka’s sovereign rating to ‘B-’ on the country’s weakened fiscal position amid COVID-19 recession while kept the outlook ‘Stable’ as the island nation still has access to sufficient resourc

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

Responding to the inferences made in recent media reports questioning the government’s ability to honour its debt service obligations, the Central Bank yesterday reiterated the government’s commitment to meeting all its financial obligations.

The G-20 debt suspension initiative is unlikely to ease the significant credit challenges that the coronavirus pandemic has amplified in some frontier market sovereigns, particularly in Africa, Moody’s Investors Service said in a report this week.

Airline passenger traffic is not expected to return to pre-crisis levels until 2023 at the earliest and may suffer even more if new health rules impose an excessive cost burden, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said.

In an effort to allow global travel and tourism space to bounce back at a faster pace, from the crisis brought about by the ongoing pandemic, a senior representative of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) highlighted it is imperativ

HNB Finance Limited will commence trading on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) today after an initial public offering (IPO) and an introduction by the company.

Sri Lanka’s economy is expected to contract by an estimated 1.4 percent in 2020, the first time since the economy shrank in 2001, while First Capital Research recalibrated its earlier assessment to a dourer scenario, as the lockdowns prolonged and

Hatton National Bank PLC (HNB) reported modest operating performance for the March quarter (1Q20) while the bottom line received a strong boost from the removal of some taxes on financial services. HNB reported a 12 percent decline in the net interes

The US is facing a severe economic downturn amid the global pandemic, but will not suffer another Great Depression and will see a recovery begin later this year, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Sunday. The world’s top economy was strong be

Singer Sri Lanka PLC’s March 2020 top line came in at below the previous year’s levels but reported higher operating profits, possible from reduced selling and administrative costs, as the consumer durables juggernaut failed short of its targets