Economic
In keeping with the Government’s guidelines to uplift local entrepreneurs, and with the aim of uplifting businesses that are struggling as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, People’s Bank has embraced the responsibility of a state bank and taken steps to immediately reduce the interest rates of industries that contribute directly to the local economy.
Sri Lanka’s seafood exports will regain resilience following the exiting of the lockdown and resuming economic activities during COVID-19 as the industry is one step ahead in the global supply chain.
Fitch Ratings said yesterday it has recalibrated its Sri Lanka national rating scale to reflect changes in the relative creditworthiness among Sri Lankan issuers, following Fitch’s downgrade of the country’s sovereign rating to ‘B-’ from ‘B’ on 24 April 2020.
Four experts yesterday were unanimous that valuations at the Colombo stock market remain very attractive from a long-term perspective despite the impact of COVID-19, suggesting the time was ideal to buy fundamentally strong listed equities.
Headline inflation as measured by the year-on-year (Y-o-Y) change in the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) declined to 4% in May from 5.2% in April, the Central Bank said in a statement yesterday.
Sri Lanka’s most digitally innovative bank, HNB PLC, announced the launch of AppiGo, a revolutionary platform which enables any business to rapidly establish end-to-end e-commerce capabilities with ease.
Dubai (Reuters): Emirates airline said on Sunday it had made some staff redundant due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, with two company sources saying trainee pilots and cabin crew had been affected.
Foreigners stepped up interest on Lankan listed equities as they ended the week as net buyers, a phenomena not seen for months, whilst the Colombo bourse too achieved its second consecutive week of gain.
Three types of vehicles which were cleared by the customs department on or before May 31, to be assembled in Sri Lanka, have been added to the list of automobiles that will be exempted from the luxury motor tax.
Former Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) Chairman and veteran banker Nihal Fonseka and Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) Executive Director Dr. Dushni Weerakoon have submitted their resignation from the Central Bank’s Monetary Board, which is responsible for monetary policy decision-making.
Defence Chief, Army Commander and Head of the National Operation Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO) Lt. Gen. Shavendra Silva, on Thursday addressed the monthly meeting of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) as a guest speaker via video conferencing.
2019 දී දළ දේශීය නිෂ්පාදිතයෙන් සියයට 7.8 ක් වූ ශ්රී ලංකාවේ විදේශ ප්රේෂණ මේ වසරේදී සියයට 19 කින් පහත වැටෙනු ඇතැයි ලෝක බැංකුව පුරෝකථනය කර තිබේ.
With the objective to encourage foreign income earners in the country, Bank of Ceylon (BOC) is promoting the Special Deposit Account (SDA) including those who receive their foreign remittances both in foreign currency and/or in Sri Lankan Rupees.
The Colombo stock market yesterday closed on a negative note, apparently losing the steam with which it rose to highest gain since 2010 last week.
The Special Commodity Levy (SCL) hike on 26 products including some food items will offset the revenue loss caused by the prohibition of non-essential imports last month. The SCL has been increased for six months with effect from May 22, the Finance Ministry said.
The Cabinet yesterday approved maintaining Assessment Tax without change for the next two years, an official said.
“As soon as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was announced as a pandemic, we knew the borders will be closed and it will have an adverse impact on our exports,” EDB Chairman Prabhash Subasinghe told the Daily FT.
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