Economic

Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa yesterday said the economy is facing great difficulties with the looming foreign exchange crisis and drastic measures would have to be taken.

Sri Lanka has seen the highest tourist arrivals growth post-COVID in November with 44,294 arrivals, pushing the cumulative figure to 104,989.

Governor Nivard Cabraal cracks the whip on illegal channels and incentivises flows via banking system
$ 300 m drop last month in foreign remittances via formal system
CBSL suspects inflows via grey market could be for drug trade
CB Chief urges public to only use formal channels, whilst cautioning on unnecessary trouble in supporting the illegal activities of the ‘drug trade’
Effort is not only to increase value of remittances but to end money laundering
Financial Intelligence Unit and Police track systems on unlawful money transmission; recipient accounts frozen
Opines migrant workers fully aware of risks by Hawala and Undial systems
Says CB does not want rupee to depreciate further
Govt. to introduce special incentives to reward migrant workers with pension, insurance, enhanced duty-free access and credit facilities for dependents from January
96,000 left for foreign employment in first 11 months, 20-25,000 more likely in December

In response to several complaints that certain authorised money exchangers are engaged in activities that are not in compliance with the directions issued under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Act No. 12 of 2017 (FEA), the Central Bank is conducting a series of spot examinations at the offices of authorised money exchangers, a step towards strengthening monitoring and supervision.

Advocata’s Bath Curry Indicator (BCI), which tracks the monthly changes in the price of a basket of commonly consumed food items, recorded the highest retail prices since 2019.

Browns Investments PLC (BIL) on Friday revealed that it had already invested $ 114 million, or Rs. 23.2 billion, so far for multiple projects in the Port City with commitment for a further $ 86 million in the next two years.

මහ බැංකුව ආයතන කිහිපයකට එරෙහිව ගත් දැඩි පියවර

The Colombo stock market yesterday survived a choppy day of sentiments to close marginally on the up by 0.5% amidst healthy turnover.

The Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) has allowed Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) companies to resume distribution of cylinders from yesterday, subject to three new guidelines recommended by a technical committee.

Budget 2022 has failed to achieve three critical outcomes of establishing fiscal stability, building credibility, and instilling confidence, Verite Research claimed yesterday.

Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal yesterday called on the private sector to join hands to revive Sri Lanka from the challenges of COVID-19 towards a sustainable growth trajectory.

රත්‍රං මිලට සිදුව ඇති දේ

Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga is planning to submit several special Cabinet papers to revise the taxes of Local Government bodies on tourist hotels, restaurants and residences, in a bid to provide further concessions on electricity bills.

The Central Bank’s arbitrary cap on the exchange rate came under fire yesterday at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Economic Summit Day 1.

ගෘහස්ත ගෑස් සැපයීම නැවත ආරම්භ කිරීමට ලිට්‍රෝ සහ ලාෆ් ගෑස් සමාගම් දෙක තීරණය කර තිබෙනවා.

Most profitable and valuable firm sees share price top Rs. 300; briefly surpasses Rs. 600 b market capitalisation before settling down at Rs. 594 b
ASPI closes lower after strong start; LOLC stocks weigh in

Double-digit growth recorded in seven export sectors
Investment pipeline poised to expand current export basket further

ඉන්ධන ගෙන්වීම තවත් අර්බුදයක් වෙයි