Economic

Headline inflation shot up to 17.5% in February up from 16.8% in January, as the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) went past the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) which showed inflation at 15.8% for the same month.

The Colombo stock market bounced back yesterday though on thin volumes whilst seeing another week of losses as investor sentiment remained bearish.

Amidst rising rumours that Central Bank Governor Ajith Cabraal has been told to resign from his position by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa amidst the severe economic crisis and his continuous denials of seeking IMF assistance, Cabraal last evening told Daily Mirror that these rumours were wrong and he had not received any such request.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාව තුළ පෙර නොවූ විරූ පරිදි මතුව ඇති ආර්ථික අර්බුදය හමුවේ ගැටළු විසඳා ගැනීමට ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතා සියලු දේශපාලන පක්ෂ වෙතින් විශ්වාසනීය හා ප්‍රායෝගික යෝජනා කැඳවීමට කටයුතු කළ යුතු බව ව්‍යාපාරික ධම්මික පෙරේරා මහතා පෙන්වා දෙයි.

ඉන්දීය රජය විසින් මේ මොහොතේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් බිලියනයක ණය ලබාදුන්නේ කිසිදු විශේෂ කොන්දේසියක් පැනවීමෙන් තොරව බවත් එහි පොළී සහ වාරික ගෙවීමට ඇත්තේ වසර තුනකින් පසුව බවත් මුදල් අමාත්‍ය බැසිල් රාජපක්ෂ මහතා පවසයි.

Cabinet gives approval for Basil to issue order under Foreign Exchange Act

රුපියල් 20ක මුහුණත වටිනාකමින් යුත් නව සමරු කාසි දෙකක් නිකුත් කර තිබෙනවා. එය නිකුත් කර ඇත්තේ කොළඹ විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ වෛද්‍ය පීඨයට හා මෙරට ප්‍රථම ජන හා නිවාස සංගණනයට වසර 150ක් පිරීම නිමිත්තෙන්.

පසුගිය වසරේ මාර්තු මාසයට සාපේක්ෂව මෙම මාසයේ උද්ධමනය සියයට 25 ක පමණ අගයක් දක්වා වර්ධනය විය හකි බව කොළඹ විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයේ ආර්ථික විද්‍යා අධ්‍යයන අංශයේ ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ කථිකාචාර්ය ආචාර්ය ප්‍රියංග දුනුසිංහ පවසනවා.

The Colombo stock market has seen Rs. 320 billion in value wiped off in the past three sessions reinforcing bearish investor sentiment. After last Thursday’s record day gain propelling market capitalisation by Rs. 410 billion to Rs. 4.812 trillion, negative sessions have dragged the latter to Rs. 4.492 trillion by yesterday.

Suggests President should invite practical short-term one-year proposals from all political parties to immediately boost foreign inflows, save foreign exchange
Says proposals from political parties must include direct impact on dollar-savings or earnings or both computed on annual basis
Forecasts if good proposals implemented will ensure stability, stimulate revival, win public support, and avoid social unrest
Opines unprecedented crises have damaged Sri Lanka’s nation brand and reputation globally
Insists bipartisan mindset and approach key to restore confidence among international investors, lenders, buyers, tourists as well as global and multilateral organisations

Samsung on Wednesday unveiled its most premium flagships –Galaxy S22 Series in Sri Lanka at an exclusive media event.

President appoints 16-member Committee to advice Ministerial and officials comprising Council he set up on 8 March
Committee members include economists and members of the business community

The Central Bank last week raised $ 175 million via its most successful issuance of Sri Lanka Development Bonds (SLDBs) in nearly a year.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday in a statement said he has the fullest confidence and trust in Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal.

Sri Lanka yesterday welcomed the first set of participants of the popular Raid Amazones, the annual adventure trail originating from France that features female athletes competing in numerous challenges including riding, running, orienteering, mountain biking, canoeing, archery and others.

Noting that there has been marked increase in inflows post the free float of the rupee, the Central Bank has announced that the additional incentive scheme for workers remittances and exporters have been rescinded.

“ස්වර්ණමය පාරාදීසය වැඩසටහන” යටතේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට පළමු ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් බිලියනය රැගෙන ඒමේ වගකීම තමන්ම භාරගන්නා බව ව්‍යාපාරික ධම්මික පෙරේරා මහතා පවසයි.

The USD/LKR rate on spot contracts was seen closing the day at levels of Rs. 265/85 yesterday subsequent to trading within a range of Rs. 264.97 to Rs. 275.00, Wealth Trust Securities said.