Economic

The Colombo stock market’s struggle amidst the impact of COVID-19 persisted yesterday in a second day of drama, though the fall was dented by a late recovery in buying sentiments.

සති 07 කට පසුව කොළඹ කොටස් වෙළඳපොල අද දිනයේදී ගනුදෙනු සඳහ විවෘත කෙරිණි. කෙසේ වෙතත් සාමාන්‍ය ගනුදෙනු ආරම්භ වූ වහාම ගනුදෙනු අත්හිටුවීමට සිදු වී ඇති බවයි වාර්තා වන්නේ.

Sri Lanka’s first-ever hundred per cent locally manufactured petrol and electric prototype cars would be launched by next year, Sri Lanka's racing legend Dilantha Malagamuwa said, yesterday.

In a telling effect of the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Sri Lanka passed April without a single incoming tourist, as per latest data released.

As the Government begins rolling back COVID-19 countering measures in earnest, Sri Lanka will have to find ways to build resilience while implementing recovery strategies, two experts said yesterday.

The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) is set to resume trading on Monday (11 May 2020) after its longest ever shut down aimed at combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

කොවිඩ් වෛරසය ව්‍යාප්තිය හමුවේ ආර්ථිකය ශක්තිමත් කරගැනීම සඳහා කිසිදු ප්‍රශ්න කිරීමකින් තොරව රටට විදේශ මුදල් රැගෙන ඒමට අවසර ලබාදීම මගින් මුදල් විශුද්ධිකරණය පිළිබඳ අවදානමක් මතුව ඇතැයි ට්‍රාන්ස්පේරන්සි ඉන්ටර්නැෂනල් ආයතනය අනතුරු හඟවයි.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has named MAS Holdings Vice Chairman Sherad Amalean to replace the company’s Chairman Mahesh Amalean as a member of the Task Force for Economic Revival and Poverty Alleviation.

Pharmaceutical Chamber in talks with Govt. to revise costs of price-controlled drugs due to rupee depreciation
Says industry struggling to meet rising costs on top of non-payment of suppliers
Over 70 types of price-controlled drugs account for 65% of market share
NMRA says no consensus yet, final decision lies with Health Minister

Sri Lanka Tourism yesterday justified the request to increase fees by tour guides from April 2021.

Sri Lanka Telecom PLC has appointed Lalith Mohan Seneviratne as the Group Chief Executive Officer with effective from 1 May.

Denies accusations of unions that workers placed in risky situations
Says industry, RPCs and other stakeholders have worked with Govt.
Insists all support given to educate and protect workers
All returnees from overseas and Colombo registered and quarantined
Rs. 400 m worth of dry rations distributed
Pledges to continue support and implement any new directives from Govt. or health authorities

Around 90% of Board of Investment (BOI) approved factories within the 12 Export Processing Zones (EPZs) have begun operations by yesterday with an estimated 50% employee turnout, a top official confirmed.

Sri Lanka tea trading continues it’s upward trend fetching a record price of Rs 700 per kilo of upcountry and low country at the recent auction held in Colombo on Friday 8, estate superintendents said.

Industrial Export and Investment Promotion Mini-ster Prasanna Ranatunga has advised exporters not to cut jobs despite the challenging times posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. He made these remarks at a special meeting this week with key officials of the Export Development Board (EDB) and Board of Investment (BOI) to discuss on the way-forward strategies of exports and investment promotion.

The Colombo stock market lost a staggering Rs. 84 billion in value within seconds yesterday as it opened after one-and-a-half months of shutdown with investors apparently in panic selling mode influenced by severe impact on the economy from the COVID-19 pandemic and other shocks.

Sri Lanka’s Rupee has strengthened to Rs.191.5 against the US Dollar despite the sharp fall of reserves, amid foreigners exiting from government securities, Central Bank data showed.

Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) has warned the government of the repercussions it could face by loosening restrictions on accepting the foreign currency.