BANGKOK (AFP) - Thai retailers kicked off 2020 with a ban on single-use plastic bags, joining the battle against throwaway carriers in the Southeast Asian nation where citizens go through an average of eight every day. The move, taken on We

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has decided to keep its inflation target unchanged this year at around 3 percent, sources say, suggesting policymakers will continue to roll out more economic support measures while avoiding aggressive stimulus. Some analyst

FRANKFURT AM MAIN (AFP) - The unemployment rate in Europe’s top economy Germany held steady close to historic lows in December, official data showed yesterday, a relief after a second successive year squeaking by recession. While the number of

MADRID (AFP) - Barcelona this week imposed a ban on older, more polluting vehicles during most of the day in a bid to reduce air pollution in Spain’s second largest city. Gasoline-powered cars registered in Spain before 2000, and diesel-powered car

ZURICH (Reuters) - Credit Suisse said yesterday it expects to buy back at least 1 billion Swiss francs (US$ 1.03 billion) worth of shares until the end of 2020, subject to market and economic conditions, after completing a similar programme last year

REUTERS - Axon Enterprise Inc yesterday sued the U.S. Federal Trade Commission in a bid to have potential antitrust litigation heard in a federal district court and not in an internal FTC process that it alleges is biased toward regulators. Axon, th

The new government of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is prepared to meet the record Rs.2 trillion debt service obligations including Rs.1.1 trillion worth of foreign debt service obligation for this year.

Marking probably the biggest tax overhaul in the history, nearly 54,000 businesses have been freed from the Value Added Tax (VAT) payment requirement with effect from January 01, 2020 as the concessions announced in late November are slowly taking ro

(Singapore) AFP: Singapore’s economy, a closely watched barometer for the rest of Asia’s export-driven countries, grew just 0.7 percent last year as the US-China trade war hammered global markets.

Export Development Board Chairman/Chief Executive, Prabhash Subasinghe met with the country’s leading exporters yesterday at the EDB premises.

The Central Bank will announce ‘The Road Map: Monetary and Financial Sector Policies for 2020’ and Beyond’ on January 6.

Troubled The Finance Company PLC (TFC) in a newspaper advertisement yesterday had indicated that it requires a minimum equity investment of Rs.25 billion to stay afloat amid moves by the Central Bank to liquidate the firm.

Top marketing professional Nushad Perera has been appointed as the Chairman of Lanka Sathosa, the country’s largest State-run retail chain.

Nawaloka Hospitals PLC Chairman Jayantha Dharmadasa will assume duties as the Chairman of National Film Corporation of Sri Lanka today.

The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) closed the first day of trading in 2020 on a negative note with both indices losing ground.

A survey commissioned by the Advocata Institute in April 2019 had revealed that 57 percent of Sri Lankans were unwilling to pay extra for food, even if it meant to protect the local agricultural industry.

(Hong Kong) AFP: Asian markets started the new decade on the front foot, with most rallying out of the blocks yesterday on lingering trade optimism, while China’s central bank announced fresh stimulus for the country’s stuttering economy.

Sri Lanka is well known for its tea, gems and spices and over the years, the island nation has undergone a shift, making it popular for its services, where the local expertise in the IT space is much sought after.

Following is an open letter to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa by minority shareholder activist K.C. Vignarajah.

Sri Lanka’s much anticipated presidential election in November 2019 was won convincingly by Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Sri Lanka’s apparel industry targets a 6 percent year-on-year (YoY) growth in exports for this year, moving ahead with plans to set up a 200-acre fabric park with foreign investments in collaboration with the Board of Investment (BOI) in the Easter

Laugfs Corporation (Rubber) Ltd (Laugfs Rubber) recently unveiled the latest addition to its product portfolio with its Super Solid Loader Grip Tyre, the largest tyre to be manufactured in Sri Lanka.

Keshala Jayawardana will assume duties as the new Chairperson of National Savings Bank (NSB) today.

Sri Lanka’s taxpayer-funded state sector employees must go beyond traditional norms to serve the public, instead of idling and procrastinating to implement the government policies, Treasury and Finance Ministry Secretary S.R. Attygalle stressed.

(Paris) REUTERS: Airbus has become the world’s largest planemaker for the first time since 2011 after delivering a forecast-beating 863 aircraft in 2019, seizing the crown from embattled U.S. rival Boeing, airport and tracking sources said yesterda

(Beijing) AFP: China’s central bank announced yesterday it was cutting the reserve requirements for banks, freeing up about US $ 114 billion to boost lending and spur the slowing economy.

(Tokyo) AFP: The usually staid Japanese media lambasted the “cowardly” Carlos Ghosn yesterday, after the tycoon jumped bail and fled to Lebanon to avoid trial in Japan.

The government yesterday announced a ban on ethanol imports to the country with immediate effect.

(London) REUTERS: Britain’s Lloyds Banking Group suffered an outage yesterday that left customers of its Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland operations unable to access their accounts online.

A few years ago, Binita Biswokarma’s life took a sharp turn for the worse.