The umbrella organisation of the regional plantation companies (RPCs), the Planters’ Association of Ceylon (PA), yesterday cautioned that this year’s tea output would fall below 300 million kilos while the tea export income would fall bel

Sri Lanka’s recent political crisis has attracted global attention with the appointment of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa as the new prime minister. Many observers link the leadership change to the contest for influence in South Asia betwee

The ongoing trade conflict between the US and People’s Republic of China (PRC) was supposed to be a way of protecting domestic industries. But it is backfiring in large part because of the vast global interconnections in production and trade. &

Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves fell by a whopping US $ 884.92 million during the month of November to little over US $ 7.01 billion, partly due to a US $ 500 million payment under the Asian Clearing Unit, the latest data released by the Central B

The Norwegian government has entered into a partnership agreement with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Sri Lanka to promote peace, justice and strong institutions under Sustainable Development Goal 16 for the period of December 201

(New Delhi) AFP: The head of India’s central bank announced his resignation yesterday following a public spat with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration about alleged government interference.

Sri Lanka’s Sanken group plans to build a 185-room luxury hotel with an investment of Rs.6 billion in Galle next year, which will be managed by a top Sri Lankan hotel chain. 

The Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) is set to launch the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) system shortly as part of a national initiative for effective decision-making. 

The United National Party (UNP) yesterday charged that the attempts to raise up to US $ 750 million by the state-run National Savings Bank (NSB) through a term financing facility (TFF), were illegal. 

President Maithripala Sirisena appears to have softened his decision to ban state entities holding official ceremonies, meetings and various programmes at private hotels, which was announced by the President’s Media Division (PMD) last week. &n

The Sweden-based global asset management company, Tundra Fonder’s Tundra Sustainable Frontier Fund in its latest update has said that an early election would be clearly positive for Sri Lanka’s stock market. The fund’s November u

The earnings sent back home by Sri Lankans working abroad, mainly in the Middle East, fell in September, weighing on the cumulative earnings for the first nine months of this year, the data released by the Central Bank showed. Sri Lanka depends on re

Washington (AFP): Ride-share company Uber quietly has filed paperwork this week for its initial public offering, the Wall Street Journal reported late Friday. The move comes one day after rival Lyft launched the process to take the company public wit

The board of directors of TKS Finance Limited in a statement said the company has successfully completed its rights issue announced in August, raising a total sum of Rs.109 million on October 6, 2018. 

(Paris) AFP: Calls mounted yesterday for President Emmanuel Macron to bring an end to the ‘yellow vest’ crisis gripping France as authorities in Paris and elsewhere counted the cost of another day of violent protests and looting. Authorit

Officials at the Tourism and Wildlife Ministry is committed to achieving key objectives of the Sri Lanka Tourism Strategic Plan 2017–2020 despite the present challenges, said Secretary to the Minis

HONG KONG (AFP) - Asian investors battled to finish a volatile week with some stability yesterday as they weigh the outlook for China-US trade talks and uncertainty in oil markets, while looking ahead to the release of key US jobs data. After the fur

Further strengthening its leadership team, Laugfs Holdings, the diversified conglomerate announced the appointment of Sarathkumara Premachandra as Director/Chief Executive Officer of Laugfs Terminals Limited.

Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts swept away six awards at the Sri Lanka Tourism Awards 2018 held recently where they were recognized for the unique initiatives that contributed to the hospitality industry. 

GENEVA (AFP) - Some 3.9 billion people are now using the Internet, meaning that for the first time more than half of the global population is online, the United Nations said yesterday. The UN agency for information and communication technologies, ITU

REUTERS  - The Sri Lankan rupee ended firmer yesterday, helped by inward dollar remittances, but foreign investors continued to exit from bonds and stocks as a lingering political crisis weighed on market sentiment. Foreign investors sold a net

 (Los Angeles) VARIETY.COM:  Iflix, a streaming service for emerging markets, and Next 10 Ventures have launched a Creators Hub to fund the development of new online video creation in Southeast Asia. Announced at the ongoing Asian TV Mar

TOKYO (AFP) - Nissan yesterday announced plans to recall approximately 150,000 vehicles owing to improper tests on new units, dealing a fresh blow to the Japanese car giant following the shock arrest of former chairman Carlos Ghosn.

(London) AFP: Embattled Chinese telecoms giant Huawei has agreed to British intelligence demands over its equipment and software as it seeks to be part of the country’s 5G network plans, the FT reported yesterday. Huawei executives met senior o

In the wake of indefinite strike action declared by trade union (TU) leaders from December 4 onwards, the Planters’ Association of Ceylon (PA) yesterday firmly reiterated the position of its membership—that a 100 percent increase in daily

(Colombo) REUTERS: Sri Lanka’s travel industry is starting to suffer the fallout of a political crisis in the middle of its peak tourist season, as uncertainty prompts cancellations by both business and leisure visitors.

The ongoing political turmoil in the country has created “irreversible serious economic consequences” for Sri Lanka for years to come, particularly damaging the foreign investor sentiment, which would ultimately result in limiting foreign

(Colombo) REUTERS: The Sri Lankan rupee closed slightly firmer in dull trade yesterday, helped by dollar inward remittances.

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has been appointed the Internet Payment Gateway (IPG) service provider to ‘Daraz,’ South Asia’s premier online shopping market, to enable seamless online transactions for its large base of shoppers.

In our Page 6 story of yesterday’s (6th) paper on rating downgrades, the headline should be corrected as “NSB, People’s Leasing and Finance ratings lowered as they face accelerated risks following political crisis.” We regret