Economic

The Sri Lankan rupee will appreciate once the inflow of foreign exchange begins from the SWAP agreements provided to foreigners who invest in government securities, Money and Capital Markets and State Enterprise Reforms Ajith Nivard Cabraal told Parliament yesterday.

The Colombo stock market yesterday saw mixed sentiments apparently taking a breather after a stellar 10-day gain whilst turnover declined below its recent daily average of Rs. 3 billion plus.

The value of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) rose by Rs. 123 billion last week bringing the total increase since early May to a whopping Rs. 442 billion.

The Central Bank has issued operating instructions to Licensed Commercial Banks (LCBs) on the “USD/LKR Buy - Sell Currency SWAPs” for tenors beyond one year and up to two years under the scheme named “Inward Investments SWAPs Scheme (IIS Scheme)”.

Special benefit only if investments are held to maturity; any sale before maturity will incur penalty though enjoying same exchange rate at the time of buying
Minimum investment set at $ 25 m and maximum at $ 1 b
Any exchange loss due to depreciation will be set-off by Central Bank when transferring profits to Treasury
Foreign investments in Government securities were as high as $ 3.4 b in 2014 and by end-2019 they have dwindled to $ 400 m; by end-July figure was $ 69 m
Net foreign outflow of $ 515 m from the rupee-denominated Government securities market in first seven months of 2020; Recent weeks see return of foreign buying

State Minister of Money and Capital Markets and State Enterprise Reforms Ajith Nivard Cabraal will engage with Foreign Institutional Investors (FII’s) today via a virtual event hosted by CT CLSA Securities and CITIC CLSA.

The Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) has removed the Maximum Retail Price of Rs. 750 per kilo that had been placed on turmeric powder.

State Minister of Money and Capital Market and Public Enterprise Reforms Nivard Cabraal

Cabraal tells Parliament foreigners keen to return to SL as local interest drives share market up
Says a lot of excitement about Port City
Country targeting economic growth of 1% by end of the year
Requests banks and leasing companies to give concessions to customers

The Board of Investment (BOI) says agreements to the value of $ 1.5 billion have been approved in the first nine months of this year from the 2020 targeted figure of $ 2-2.5 billion.

The winning streak witnessed at the Colombo stock market for over two weeks ended yesterday as investors took a welcome breather and turnover settling at Rs. 2 billion level.

The Central Bank said yesterday the headline inflation as measured by the year-on-year (Y-o-Y) change in the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) increased marginally to 6.2% in August 2020 from 6.1% in July 2020.

මෑත ඉතිහාසයේ අපනයන ආදායම සති දෙකක් තුළ ඩොලර් මිලියන 500ක් ඉක්මවා ඇති බව මුදල් අමාත්‍යාංශය ආරංචි මාර්ග සඳහන් කරයි.

People’s Bank has made history by becoming the first state bank to accept fingerprints of pensioners for verification purposes, in lieu of conventional life certificate.

Denying any shortage local tyre producers are urging the Government not to import motorbike and three-wheeler tyres.

Main indices gain by over 5% with average turnover of over Rs. 3 b

Sri Lanka will be importing wheat as a substitute for corn under temporary import licenses to help the poultry industry.

The Finance Ministry has allowed the Board of investment (BOI) approved apparel manufacturers to engage in local sales or to undertake sub-contracts from retailers or suppliers for three months starting from 10 September subject to conditions.

The long-term contract for the procurement of 5% of the 8,400,000 barrels of Merban crude oil will be awarded to Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) of Singapore for a period of eight months from 1 October 2020 to 31 May 2021.