Economic

The Central Bank yesterday said it was seeking support from multiple sources to manage Sri Lanka’s upcoming debt repayments and reiterated commitment to meeting its obligations even as reserves slipped to $ 4.1 billion at the end of March.

When the petition challenging the new Bill titled ‘Inland Revenue Amendment’ to amend the Inland Revenue Act came up before the Supreme Court on Monday, Counsels for the Petitioners suggested proposals to make the Bill consistent with the Constitution.

The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) says it has shown exponential growth in the just ended first quarter in comparison to a year ago despite the recent dip.

The Monetary Board, at its meeting on Tuesday, decided to maintain the Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) and the Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) of the Central Bank at their current levels of 4.50% and 5.50%, respectively.

The confectionery manufacturing industry yesterday expressed concerns over its survival and security of jobs, following the “sudden” decision by the Government to ban its key raw material – palm oil imports – with immediate effect.

The tourism sector has received more time to repay low interest bearing working capital loans obtained to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.

An equity fund to provide crucial seed capital for deserving Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is likely to bear fruit following discussions between a dedicated group within Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and the State Minister of Money, Capital Markets and State Enterprises Reform Nivard Cabraal.

Seylan Bank’s Rs. 6 billion worth listed debenture has been snapped up on its official opening day yesterday.

ලංකා බැංකුවේ වත්කම් ප්‍රමාණය 2021 පළමු කාර්තුවේදී රුපියල් ට්‍රිලියන 3 ඉක්මවා ගොස් ඇත.

The Colombo stock market yesterday saw old lustre as turnover topped Rs. 5 billion mark. The All Share Price Index gained by 30 points or 0.4% and S&PSL20 improved by over 20 points or 0.7%. Turnover at Rs. 5.16 billion was a two-month high.

The Colombo stock market began a fresh week on a positive note with improved investor activity.

මුදල් රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය අජිත් නිවාඩ් කබ්රාල් මහතා මාධ්‍යය සාකච්ඡාවකට එක් වෙමින් පවසා සිටියේ වාහන ආනයනය සදහා පනවා ඇති සීමා ලිහිල් කිරීම කෙරෙහි අවධානය යොමුකර ඇති බවයි.

The decline of the Rupee vis-à-vis the US Dollar is likely to have a mixed impact on listed companies, according to stock broking firm CTCLSA Securities.

Negotiations are underway with several investors to start vehicle assembly plants in Sri Lanka with the Government keen to promote the country as a hub for vehicle value addition, State Minister of Money, Capital Markets and State Enterprise Reforms Ajith Nivard Cabraal, told Parliament yesterday.

ඩොලරයට සාපේක්ෂව රුපියලේ අගය අවප්‍රමාණය වීම මෙම වසර පුරා අපේක්ෂා කළ හැකි බව කොළඹ විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයේ ආර්ථික විද්‍යා අධ්‍යයන අංශයේ ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ කථිකාචාර්ය ආචාර්ය ප්‍රියංග දුනුසිංහ පවසනවා. මෙම තත්ත්වය මග හරවා ගැනීම සඳහා කෙටි කාලීනව ගත හැකි ක්‍රියාමාර්ග නොමැති බවයි ආචාර්ය ප්‍රියංග දුනුසිංහ නෙත් නිවුස් කළ කරුණු විමසීමකදී කියා සිටියේ.

Special Deposit Accounts (SDA) introduced by the Government last year have attracted $ 360.3 million, which has pushed the Cabinet to approve extending their validity period further, a top official said yesterday.

The Central Bank yesterday said that so far this year, $ 1.2 billion worth of debt service payments have been made on account of Sri Lanka Development Bonds (SLDBs) and foreign currency loans from domestic banks.

SriLankan Airlines, the National Carrier of Sri Lanka and a member of the oneworld alliance, has unveiled neighbour-free seats.