Economic

Cabinet has cleared the West Container Terminal (WCT) of the Colombo Port to be developed as a 35-year joint venture with India’s Adani Group and its local partner John Keells Holdings PLC as well as with investment from Japan, a top official said yesterday.

Commercial Bank has announced a first and final dividend of Rs. 6.50 per voting and non-voting share for the financial year 2020, involving a cash dividend and a scrip dividend.

Strong asset and other income growth combined with an emphasis on prudent provisioning in one of the most challenging years on record, have enabled the Commercial Bank of Ceylon Group (ComBank) to end 2020 on a stable platform for growth, with better liquidity than most peers and adequate provision cover.

The Central Bank is likely to keep policy rates unchanged this week, First Capital Research said yesterday, though it backed slashing them further to improve slow consumer demand and sustain the secondary market at lower levels.

After a jubilant January, the Colombo stock market has recorded a feeble February, suffering a 13% dip, whilst turnover was half of what was experienced in the previous month.

Cabinet approval was given this week to expand the Kalutara Industrial Zone by 1.9 hectares to accommodate more investors.

Land Valuation Indicator (LVI) for the Colombo District increased by 4.6% on year-on-year basis to 145.2 during the second half of 2020, the Central Bank (CB) said in its latest report.

In a bid to improve policy clarity, the Treasury yesterday said it is putting the finishing touches on a slew of taxes announced in December 2019 and Budget 2021 to be placed before Cabinet and finalised ahead of April to give businesses a clear start for the next tax year.

Dialog Axiata PLC yesterday announced the commissioning of the Maldives Sri Lanka Cable system (MSC), enabling the delivery of high-speed broadband services.

Spurred on by the Government’s import restrictions, local manufacturers are stepping up with about 140 new proposals, worth an estimated Rs. 48 billion, currently under evaluation by the Industries Ministry, a top official said yesterday.

There is no indication of a positive response on the statement made by the Finance, Money Capital Markets and State Enterprise Reforms State Minister Ajith Nivard Cabraal regarding the evaluation of the situation of allowing vehicle imports at the end of this year, the Vehicle Importers Association of Sri Lanka (VIASL) yesterday said.

The Central Bank yesterday defended the recent regulation on exporters to immediately convert 25% of their forex repatriations as not having undue impact, and insisted it was necessary to stabilise the currency, strengthen Sri Lanka’s credit profile and increase economic reliance.

The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) has called an emergency board meeting to evaluate and approve power purchases to ensure uninterrupted power supply, a top official said yesterday.

The Colombo stock market produced signs of a rebound yesterday with both indices closing positive, though turnover remained low.

Inflow of workers remittances has got off to a positive start in 2021 reflecting double digit growth.

Central Bank Governor Prof. W.D. Lakshman last week expressed confidence that all debt obligations of Sri Lanka will be met. He made this remark at the inaugural webinar of the Veemansa Initiative, a newly launched policy development and advocacy think tank, on the external debt situation in Sri Lanka.

World-famous news broadcaster CNN this week put Sri Lanka under the spotlight, highlighting how the country has resumed international tourism, whilst following safety protocols amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Headline inflation as measured by the Year-on-Year change based on the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) was 3.7% in January, down from 4.6% in December.