In global economic growth, divergence across economies is widening. The US keeps posting robust expansion, with a whopping 4.2 percent of annualized quarter-on-quarter growth in 2Q 2018, the fastest since 3Q 2014. While Japan’s expansion picked

The rising demand and an accelerating population shift to major urban centres are driving activity in Sri Lanka’s retail sector, with a series of large-scale developments to launch in the coming months; however, the recent pressures on domestic

As the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) prepares for its re-entry into the country’s stock market, they would most likely to be “conservative” in their investment approach and invest only in shares of a list that is currently b

(Colombo) REUTERS: The Sri Lankan rupee hit a fresh low yesterday due to dollar demand from importers and foreign banks amid outflows from 

Three LOLC group companies have decided to pull out their shares from the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) as they failed to meet the minimum public holding requirement.

As the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) prepares for its re-entry into the country’s stock market, they would most likely to be “conservative” in its investment approach and invest only in shares of a “list” that is

Sampath Bank PLC yesterday said it decided to suspend its planned dollar bond issue quoted in the Singapore Exchange as the unfriendly international capital market conditions have prompted the issuer to rethink about the timing of the issue. &nb

Sri Lanka’s snail-paced efforts towards reforms in the maritime and logistics space was frowned upon by the Europe Union (EU) yesterday, pointing out that “the time is ripe to accelerate structural and regulatory reform” in the isla

Sri Lanka’s Central Bank is hopeful that the island nation’s US $87 billion economy would grow at least 4 percent this year, despite both International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) revising down their growth foreca

The growth in bank credit accelerated in August despite the tight credit and money conditions and rising non-performing loans in the  banking sector. 

The Sri Lankan Rupee in the last eight weeks has taken a beating like many other Asian currencies as a result of the dollar rally.  The government rightly pointed out that many of the other currencies had taken a bigger beating. This week the ru

Plantation Industries Minister Navin Dissanayake has called for a joint marketing strategy to promote Sri Lanka or the Ceylon brand to market the country’s exports and tourism products, pointing out that the individual marketing campaigns are l

John Keells Holdings PLC (JKH) yesterday announced the appointment of Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy to its board as an Independent Non-Executive Director with effect from October  1, 2018.

The regional plantation companies (RPC) and plantation trade unions are in deadlock over the terms for a fresh collective agreement on wages, as the trade unions haven’t agreed to the offer made by the RPCs.

In a move that heralds greater bilateral cooperation, Chinese Defence Minister Lieutenant General Wei Fenghe paid his first visit to India in  August 2018. 

(Colombo) REUTERS: The Sri Lankan rupee closed firmer yesterday, further recovering from a record low touched last week as banks sold dollars ahead of the Central Bank’s monetary policy meeting while shares fell for a third straight session to

The Sri Lankan currency (LKR) has weakened against the US dollar in 2018 (9.4 percent as at September 26, 2018) with close to 4 percent of the depreciation being recorded in the last two weeks. Currencies like the Indian rupee, Indonesian rupiah and

Hatton National Bank PLC (HNB) yesterday announced the signing of a new partnership agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in order to expand lending and provide guarantees of up to US $ 20 million to support the development of Sri Lanka&rsq

The stock market is a place where investors with different knowledge and experience levels gather and take their investment decisions for their best interests. 

(London) REUTERS: Brent crude oil hovered close to its highest since November 2014 yesterday, supported by supply concerns before the US sanctions against Iran come into force next month.

MTD Walkers PLC last Friday said it had obtained consent from the majority debenture holders to delay the redemption of their debentures by a year, with a promise to offer an additional 2 percent interest.

Fuel prices-led transport and other non-food items continued to nudge the prices in Colombo higher in September, but increased supplies in vegetables and coconut kept overall prices under check moderating the month’s inflation. 

(Colombo) REUTERS: Sri Lanka’s Central Bank is expected to raise its key interest rates tomorrow, a Reuters poll showed, to prop up the rupee amid foreign outflows from government bonds and after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised rates earlier th

The government last Saturday imposed a series of temporary measures to cut consumption imports drastically with a view of fending off the pressure on rupee, which has depreciated over 10 percent so far this year against the US dollar.   

Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) last week blamed the government’s ad-hoc policy decision for low productivity of their plantations, which is adding to the financial woes of the already reeling 

A consortium of leading multinational corporations in Sri Lanka last week officially launched League of Multinational Corporates (LMNC), a business association that will promote the island nation’s economic potential and initiate a dialogue wit

BRUSSELS (AFP) - Ryanair cancelled scores of European flights yesterday as unions staged what they warned could be the biggest strike in the airline’s history. The Dublin-based carrier has played down fears of widespread disruption but confirme

NEW DELHI (AFP) -  An Indian coffee shop chain rhyming with Starbucks and with a similar logo has agreed to change its name after being sued by the US giant, the Indian firm said yesterday.

BEIJING (AFP) - The former deputy head of China’s top securities regulator was handed an 18-year prison sentence for taking bribes and insider trading yesterday.  Yao Gang, former vice chairman of the China Securities Regulato

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday charged Tesla CEO Elon Musk with securities fraud, alleging he misled investors last month in tweets about taki