Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunga, who has been reappointed as the Secretary to the Treasury and the Ministry of Finance and Mass Media assumed his duties at the Finance Ministry yesterday. Deputy Treasury Secretary A.R. Desapriya, Additional Secretary R. Semas

Dialog Axiata yesterday announced a major step forward in Sri Lanka’s 5G journey with the commissioning of South Asia’s first fully-functional and standards compliant 5G transmission using commercial grade base stations and end user dev

The hotel industry remains the only industry in the country which has the potential to turn around the sluggish economy. We eagerly look forward to the opportunity of partnering with the government in taking Sri Lanka’s economy to new levels, w

Danish wind turbine manufacturer seller, installer, and servicer Vestas Wind Systems A/S has won the tender to install Sri Lanka first large scale wind power plant—the 104 megawatt (MW) Mannar Power Project.  

(Colombo) REUTERS: The Sri Lankan rupee fell 19 percent in 2018, making it one of the worst performing currencies in Asia, as heavy foreign outflows from government securities weighed on the local currency.  

The headline inflation in December measured by the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) decelerated to 2.8 percent on a year-on –year basis, from 3.3 percent recorded for November.  

The Port of Colombo yesterday handled the seven millionth twenty-foot equivalent container unit (TEU) for 2018, which is a first in the port’s history.  

(New Delhi/Mumbai) REUTERS: India will ban e-commerce companies such as Amazon.com and Walmart -owned Flipkart Group from selling products from companies in which they have an equity interest.

Sri Lanka’s listed corporates led by banks have raised a record Rs.55.26 billion via debentures in 2018, indicating a 176.3 percent year-on-year (YoY) growth in new corporate bond issuances.  

The Sri Lankan rupee has depreciated 16.1 percent against the U.S. dollar up to December 28 despite measures taken by the Central Bank and the government, which include open market operations and import restrictions.  Up to the same date, the&nb

Citizens Development Business Finance PLC (CDB) is to raise up to Rs.1.25 billion through a listed debt issue on top of the Rs.2 billion raised by the company through a previous debenture issue this April.

(Los Angeles) AFP: A malware attack that appeared to have originated outside the US delayed the hardcopy distribution of several major newspapers, according to a report.

(Cigondong/Jakarta) REUTERS: As Indonesia reels from the carnage of yet another natural disaster, authorities around the globe are working on how they can prepare for the kind of freak tsunami th

A man applies colour to a haircut with the number ‘2019’, depicted to welcome the New Year at a salon  in Ahmedabad, India (REUTERS)

SAN JOSÉ (AFP) - Costa Rica likes to advertise itself as an ecological paradise, where more than 98 percent of its electricity needs are met by clean energy.

BEIJING (AFP) - Trade negotiators from China and the United States are planning to meet in January for talks, Beijing said Thursday, but stopped short of confirming the exact date or location.   

COLOMBO (Reuters) – The Sri Lankan rupee fell to a record low for a sixth straight session yesterday on continued outflows of foreign funds mainly from government bonds as political uncertainty dented investor sentiment.   

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US consumer confidence suffered the biggest decline in more than three years in December amid a sharp selloff on Wall Street and political turmoil in Washington during the month, according to a survey released Thursday.  

TOKYO (Reuters) - Nissan Motor Co plans to cut vehicle production in China by 30,000 units in the coming months, a person briefed on the matter told Reuters, as global automakers grapple with falling demand in the world’s biggest car market.&nb

VATICAN CITY (AFP) - A Vatican court has ordered an Italian businessman jailed for money laundering, a first for the notoriously secret micro-state.

The Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) at the last policy review of the year decided to maintain policy interest rates at their current levels, as the private sector credit growth keeps accelerating and pressure on external reserv

HONG KONG (AFP) - Asian investors moved with caution in yesterday’s trade after days of volatility on global financial markets failed to boost confidence.

(Colombo) REUTERS: The Sri Lankan rupee fell to a record low yesterday amid dollar demand by state banks and continued outflows of foreign funds mainly from government bonds as political uncertainty dented investor sentiment. The rupee hit an all-tim

Laugfs Gas PLC will be making an equity infusion to the tune of Rs.1.15 billion into its fully-owned subsidiary Laugfs Terminals Ltd to fund the latter’s project to construct the largest LPG transshipment terminal in South Asia. Laugfs Gas PLC

(Mumbai/Delhi) REUTERS: Apple Inc. will begin assembling its top-end iPhones in India through the local unit of Foxconn as early as 2019, the first time the Taiwanese contract manufacturer will ha

(Moscow) REUTERS: Rising protectionism and trade wars and the unpredictability of the US administration have greatly contributed to global oil price volatility over the past two years, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said yesterday. Oil price

(Hong Kong) REUTERS: Huawei Technologies is expected to record a 21 percent jump in revenue for 2018 to US $ 109 billion, its rotating chairman said, marking the Chinese tech giant’s fastest pace of business growth in two years despite heighten

The government’s revenue projection for this year from the country’s booming tourism industry is US $ 4.4 billion as tourist arrivals grew 11.2 percent in the first 11 months with India,

Super luxury passenger vessel M.V. Marella Discovery of Marella Cruises, with 1,732 passengers and 764 crew on board, made her maiden call at the Port of Colombo in December 2018. 

Tea exports fell by 8.6 percent in November while tea production recorded a marginal decline overshadowed by unfavourable weather conditions and production disruptions due to trade union actions in the estates managed by Regional Plantation Companies