Business Sentiment – Confidence at A Nine Month High In a telltale sign of policy vacillation, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka hiked its policy rates by 50 basis points (to 6.5%) on 20 January to contain the nation’s balance of payments crisis and runaway inflation (14%). “The Monetary Board was of the view that…
In the latest release of 2021 Q4 data of LankaPropertyWeb’s House Price Index (HPI), which is based on the asking prices of its listings, the overall selling prices of houses had increased by 22.53% and apartments by 17.68% in Q4 2021 when compared to Q4 of 2020, indicating an all-time high price based on the…
AFP – Supermarket shelves are bare and restaurants can’t serve meals, but Sri Lanka’s economic crisis is a bonanza for used car dealers, with vehicle shortages pushing prices higher than a house in a nice area. The island nation of 22 million is on the brink of bankruptcy, inflation is red hot and the government…
The Silk Road Journal by Mahika Ming As per government sources international flights from Colombo International Airport, Ratmalana will start from 29th of January 2022. Flights from South India, Male and Bangladesh via India will be operated to and from Ratmalana Airport. Some sources were reporting that this was the first time international flights are…
Dr Roshan Perera & Naqiya Shiraz Background The new bill titled ‘Special Goods and Services Tax’ was published by gazette dated 07 January 2022.[1] The Special Goods and Services Tax (SGST) was originally proposed in Budget speech 2021 but was not implemented. It has once again been presented in Budget 2022. The SGST aims…
By Asanka Wijesinghe and Chathurrdhika Yogarajah Despite enhanced trade partnerships in South Asia, intra-regional trade is far from reaching its theoretical potential. Similar production patterns and competitive sectors can be the causes. However, bilateral discussions to further lower trade costs continue. The ongoing Bangladesh-Sri Lanka discussions on a preferential trade agreement (PTA) will benefit from…
The Silk Road Journal by Mahika Ming The Producer Price Index (PPI), reflecting the cost of goods at the factory gate, rose by 10.3% in December YoY (Ref. Chinese NBS). Bloomberg’s prediction was 11.3% growth while Reuters was 11.1% but the Chinese authorities managed to keep it lower than the western prediction. Chinese authorities adopted…
Methodology Revision of All Share Price Index (ASPI) Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) is planning to revise the calculation methodology of All Share Price Index (ASPI) by changing the constituent weighting method from full Market Capitalization to free float-adjusted Market Capitalization. The following interview intends to provide some essential information in this regard. What is a…
Things are not going to get easier in 2022. So the apparel industry will just have to get stronger By A. Sukumaran – Chairman, Joint Apparel Association Forum Despite having faced down another tumultuous year, the Sri Lankan apparel industry has shown remarkable resilience in 2021, and we believe the advances we have made over…
Sovereign debt restructuring can be pre-emptive or post-default. A default is inherently costly as it can result in a sustained loss of access to capital markets. That leaves pre-emptive restructuring when a country deems itself unable to service outstanding debt. The complex creditor landscape of today though makes governments reluctant to entertain sovereign debt restructuring….
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