Economic

ඩොලරයේ මිල ඉහළ යාම ගැන ලංකාවේ ගොඩක් අයට තිබෙන්නේ විශාල භීතිකාවක්. මේ අයගේ ප්‍රධානම තර්කය වන්නේ ඩොලරයේ මිල ඉහළ ගියාම බඩු ගණන් යනවා කියන එකයි. කතාව ඇත්ත. ආනයනික බඩු වල මිල අනිවාර්යයෙන්ම ඩොලරය ඉහළ යන අනුපාතයට ගණන් යනවා තමයි. ඊට අමතරව ආනයනික අමුද්‍රව්‍ය අවශ්‍ය වන දේශීය නිෂ්පාදන වල මිලත් ඩොලරයක මිල ඉහළ යද්දී ගණන් යනවා. මේවා න්‍යායාත්මකව පැහැදිලි කළ හැකි, ඒ වගේම ප්‍රායෝගිකව මහ පොළොවේ දැකිය හැකි දේවල් හැබැයි මේ කතාව කියන අය නොකියන හෝ නොදකින දෙය ඩොලරයක මිල එලෙසම තිබුණත් ලංකාවේ බඩු මිල ඉහළ යනවා කියන එකයි. එහෙම නොවෙනවා කියා කවුරු හෝ හිතනවාද ?

The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) yesterday welcomed moves to ease entry requirements for foreigners, saying a quick rebound in tourism could help revive the COVID-battered economy and boost foreign exchange. Commenting on a request made by Sri Lanka Tourism to the Director General of Health Services, THASL stressed the importance of further relaxing the current protocols in place, especially with multiple global airlines announcing direct flights.

The Central Bank’s move to fix the dollar to a permissible range yesterday was described as “regressive” by economists who maintained that it will only make the critical bailout by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) more challenging or even remote.

The Colombo City Restaurants Collective (CCRC) said yesterday that all its members had been fully vaccinated and were ready to serve post-lockdown.

In a bid to save scarce foreign exchange, the Government yesterday imposed a fresh barrier to the import of over 600 non-essential items, with the Central Bank requiring banks to impose a 100% cash margin deposit to bring down these goods.

Forex and capital markets were rattled yesterday, leaving the private sector confused and concerned, after the Central Bank unofficially pegged the rupee to the dollar at a fixed rate.

The Colombo stock market turned negative yesterday, bringing the week to a closure with one of the sharpest dips of over 4%.

Markets are awaiting the appointment of Nivard Cabraal as the new Governor of the Central Bank, but ex-staffers and experts are questioning whether such a move is in the best spirit of the laws enunciated under the Monetary Law Act.

The Colombo stock market dipped by 1% yesterday owing to investors taking profit after record-high prices, whilst activity remained robust with over Rs. 7 billion turnover.

Veteran academic Prof. W.D. Lakshman yesterday admitted recent “unpleasant events” forced him to advance his resignation as the Governor of the Central Bank, but he stopped short of being specific.

The forex market remained largely inactive for a second consecutive day following the request by the Central Bank to keep the US Dollar exchange rate at maximum of Rs. 203.

The Government yesterday said efforts to set up 500 production villages and assist 200,000 self-employed businesses and start-ups countrywide are progressing well.

අත්‍යවශ්‍ය නොවන භාණ්ඩ ආනයනය සදහා පනවා ඇති දැඩි සීමා හේතුවෙන් මෙරට අත්‍යවශ්‍ය ක්‍ෂේත්‍ර කිහිපයකට බලපෑම් එල්ලවීමේ අවදානමක් ඇතැයි ආර්ථික විශ්ලේෂකයින් පවසනවා.

The Colombo stock market yesterday suffered the biggest drop in recent months as investors continued to book profit after record highs, though panic selling was evident on concerns over the Central Bank's currency move.

The apparel industry says the export target of $ 5.1 billion for 2021 would be a tough task, given the latest wave of COVID-19 in the country and companies operating 15% below capacity.

Retail investors ably supported by high net worth individuals yesterday revived the Colombo stock market, with indices bouncing back though turnover was relatively low.

Veteran Central Bank Governor turned national-list Government MP and State Minister Nivard Cabraal is likely to revert to the former position in the greater national interest.

The Ceylon Institute of Builders (CIOB) has written to Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa on the importance of continuing with key infrastructure projects.