Economic

The Central Bank (CB) has directed all commercial banks not to unduly delay crediting export proceeds to relevant accounts of exporters.

The Colombo stock market bounced back yesterday after suffering one of the steepest falls in recent times whilst it ended the week with an average turnover of Rs. 5 billion, reflecting higher investor activity.

The new Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) Bill slated to come up in Parliament today has caused some uncertainty from both ruling and Opposition benches over its credibility and effectiveness.

Bengaluru (Reuters): Gold prices will average a little above their current level of $ 1,830 an ounce for the remainder of 2021 before edging lower next year as the global economy recovers and central banks begin to tighten monetary policy, a Reuters poll showed.

The Parliament yesterday decided to defer taking up the new Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Bill till end August.

The Government yesterday denied the scarcity of essential goods in the market, insisting that imports were being facilitated despite the challenging foreign reserves situation.

Over the last 15 months (March 2020-June 2021) the Government has attracted over $ 950 million in investments, dedicated to revitalising the country’s tourism sector.

The cruise ship ‘Navigator of the Seas,’ under the agency of Prudential Shipping, called at the Hambantota International Port (HIP) for the purposes of receiving bunkers, marking another significant milestone in the diversity of the vessels calling HIP for bunkering.

The Government yesterday said it had instructed the Central Bank to ensure financial institutions did not charge exorbitant interest rates on customer borrowings.

Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa expects to save foreign exchange by reducing the import of goods and increasing domestic production.

The first-ever airport hotel at the Bandaranaike International Airport has been announced to be operational by December next year.

SLT-Mobitel yesterday announced its financial results for the first half of 2021, posting a 29.9% year-on-year growth of Group Profit After Tax (PAT) of Rs. 6 billion.

The Land Valuation Indicator (LVI) for the Colombo District increased to 155.1 during the first half of 2021 according to its compiler, the Central Bank said.

Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga visited Moscow recently to woo more Russians to travel to Sri Lanka for an enthralling yet safe holiday.

State-owned giant Bank of Ceylon (BOC) has surpassed 2020’s full year profit of Rs. 27 billion in the first six months of 2021, Chairman Kanchana Ratwatte revealed yesterday.

The country’s cinema industry is furious over the National Film Corporation’s (NFC) move to shut out the private sector by going back on the industry’s partial liberalisation and taking up a larger role in distributing films. Cinema owners and private sector importers and distributors warned that the move would be disastrous and put millions of investments made since 2001’s partial deregulation, and those planned for the future, at risk

The Colombo stock market lost the momentum of its winning streak yesterday as investors took profit on recent gainers such as Expolanka and LOLC, though turnover remained robust.

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka Bill, which seeks to regulate the capital market in keeping with current international best practices, will be taken up for debate on Thursday, Secretary General of Parliament Dhammika Dasanayake said.