Economic

Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka have exceeded 100,000 since the reopening of borders on 21 January.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday commended exporters for not only recovering to pre-pandemic levels, but for reaching record highs, insisting that they have a key role in leading the economy towards prosperity in the post-COVID era.

People’s Bank yesterday announced the results for its nine months period ended 30 September 2021, reporting asset and deposit growth of Rs. 349.7 billion and Rs. 276.6 billion, respectively – a record high, growing by 15.7% and 15.1% during the said period.

MAS Intimates, the largest division of MAS Holdings, received three top accolades at the Sri Lanka Presidential Export Awards, including the highly coveted Exporter of the Year Award for 2020/2021.

වසර හයකට මූල්‍ය සමාගම් හයක් බංකොලොත්

The Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal yesterday expressed confidence that the economic crisis would ease by January.

Say existing safeguards are adequate against any impact from new Omicron COVID variant
Industry was anticipating 400,000 tourists with $ 600 m forex earnings until end-April 2022
Opine country cannot afford another lockdown and border closure
Industry stakeholders can work well within bio-bubble concept

Marking a milestone in the aviation industry, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday declared open the new aircraft apron of the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake. The new aircraft apron is part of the biggest, and long-overdue, development project of the multi-level second terminal of the BIA. The new aircraft apron adds 23 more slots to the existing 26, thereby increasing the total parking facility to 49. This expansion project is funded by Japan with an investment of Rs. 107 billion, making it the largest development project carried out by the Government.

Bank of Ceylon (BOC) has raised Rs. 5 billion via a private placement of Basel III Compliant, Rated, Unlisted, Unsecured, Subordinated, Redeemable Debenture issue with Non-Viability Write Down features.

The $ 15 billion hotel industry is urging the Government to give it due recognition and support to ensure that the socio-economically-critical tourism sector is revitalised sooner than later amidst multiple crises.

The Central Bank announced yesterday that policy rates will be kept unchanged following the Monetary Board review on Wednesday.

The latest debenture issue of the National Development Bank (NDB) had drawn demand worth over Rs. 9 billion. NDB issued six million BASEL III compliant, Tier 2 listed, rated, unsecured, subordinated, redeemable debentures of Rs. 100 each with a non-viability conversion with an option to issue a further 20 million more at the discretion of the Bank in the event of an oversubscription of the initial issue.

Higher inflation is generally credit negative for sovereigns, but presents particular risks for emerging markets (EMs), as they often face higher and more volatile inflation than developed markets (DMs), and are exposed to greater currency instability, says Fitch Ratings.

The Government yesterday unveiled the country’s biggest real-estate push with plans to attract over $ 6 billion local and foreign investments to promote the post-COVID growth trajectory of Sri Lanka.

Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC last night won the coveted ‘Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability Award’ for 2021 at an annual event organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, the country’s premier business chamber, to recognise sustainable champions of the local corporate world. Citizens Development Business Finance PLC and CBL Investments Limited (CBL Group) were adjudged the first and second runners-up of the competition, respectively.

The Colombo stock market yesterday delivered a strong finish for a bullish week, with both indices up by over 1% and a high turnover of Rs. 9 billion.

Japan-funded BIA expansion is the largest development carried by the Govt.
Aircraft parking slots increased from 26 to 49
Passenger handling capacity to increase to 15 m per year
Check-in counters increased from 53 to 127
Departure emigration counters increased from 21 to 53, while arrival immigration counters increased from 27 to 83
Aviation State Minister D.V. Chanaka says this is a significant turning point in the history of SL’s aviation industry
Full expansion project expected to be completed in 2023
Expect more world-renowned airlines to operate to Colombo post-pandemic

Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa yesterday said that, in spite of the challenging environment, he was confident the Sri Lankan economy would see a rapid and healthy recovery.