Economic

The Colombo stock market sustained its rebound for the second consecutive day raking up value by over Rs. 32 billion with popular high net worth individuals Nimal Perera and Rusi Captain leading from front along with institutional investors.

Sri Lanka Tourism yesterday confirmed that the all-inclusive Sri Lanka Tourism app was now ready and awaiting authorisation from the Immigration and Emigration Department to be linked with the online visa process.

The Chamber of Construction Industry (CCI) yesterday, in a statement, welcomed the election of the new Government with a strong mandate. Following is the statement issued by CCI Chief Executive Officer and Secretary General Eng. Col. (Rtd). Nissanka N. Wijeratne.

Sri Lanka insurance announced yesterday that it has declared the largest ever life insurance bonus of Rs. 8.2 billion for the year 2020 to its life insurance policyholders.

The apparel industry fears job losses owing to the COVID-19 pandemic-led downturn in business will be far worse than expected, as order books beyond August are bleak.

Watawala Tea Ceylon Ltd., a fully-owned subsidiary of Estate Management Services Ltd., of Sunshine Holdings Group, has entered into a share sale and purchase agreement with the current shareholders of Daintee Ltd. to purchase a 100% shareholding for Rs. 1.7 billion.

Sri Lanka Telecom PLC (SLT) Group said yesterday it has achieved a remarkable 55% YoY growth in its Operating Profits to Rs. 6.9 billion in the first half of 2020 amidst the many challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chitranjali Dissanayake has been appointed as the Director General (DG) of Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) with effect from 4 August. She succeeds Jeevani Siriwardena.

The Colombo stock market bounced back yesterday albeit in a moderate way after declining Wednesday with improved turnover though foreign selling continued.

The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) yesterday expressed confidence in the strong mandate by the people on 5 August election for a pro-growth Government.

මහ බැංකු ආරංචි මාර්ග අනුව පසුගිය පෙබරවාරි මාසයේ සිට ජූලි මාසය දක්වා රු. බිලියන 450 කට අධික මුදල් අච්චු ගසා මූල්‍ය වෙළඳපළට එකතුකොට ඇති බව වාර්තා වේ.

Gold has topped $2,000 (£1,527) an ounce for the first time as traders look for havens amid the pandemic.

පාසල් දරුවන්ට උසස් පරිගණක ප්‍රෝග්‍රෑමින් දැනුමක් ලබාදීම සඳහා ‘කෝඩිං කල්බ්’ 100 ක් ආරම්භ කිරීමේ වැඩසටහන යටතේ එවැනි සමාජ 50 ක් මේ වන විට පාසල්වල ආරම්භ කර ඇතැයි කොමර්ෂල් බැංකුව නිවේදනය කර ඇත.

රත්රන් අවුන්සයක මිල ඇමෙරිකානු ඩොලර් දෙදාහකට ($2,000) අධික මට්ටමකින් ඉහළගොස් තිබේ.

Bank of Ceylon has received Rs. 28.5 billion worth of applications seeking concessionary financial support to tide over COVID-19 difficulties under the Central Bank initiated schemes. Of the applications received, Rs. 16 billion worth have been submitted to the Central Bank, of which Rs. 9 billion has been disbursed.

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) yesterday congratulated the new Government and said it stood ready to engage on key reforms and policies needed to strengthen management of fiscal deficits, reform State enterprises, establish an efficient public service and improve governance.

The Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) congratulated the Prime Minister elect Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) for the victory obtained during the General Election held on 5 August.

The two-day industrial action by the employees of Colombo Port has sunk Rs. 10 billion of revenue, apart from tarnishing the Port’s hub status, credibility, and reliability, a top official warned yesterday.