COVID-19 has proven to be an unprecedented challenge for the corporate sector as all but essential services operations have come to a halt amid an extended period of lockdown in several parts of the country. A recent report by Fitch Ratings states that “corporates in consumer goods retail, construction and hotels will be among the…
Moody’s Investors Service yesterday (29) warned that Sri Lanka is facing simultaneous domestic and external shocks amid the global coronavirus outbreak. The rating agency in its latest report stated that the country faces multiple challenges from capital outflows, marked local currency depreciation, wider risk premia and a further decline in real GDP growth that will…
Perceived Economic Opportunity Index: January – March 2020 Given the onset of Covid19 all research activity sized middle of March 2020 with the whole country going in to a lockdown and subsequently a nationwide curfew. Therefore, data for Quarter 1 for 2020 is restricted to January and February. Methodology The PEOI is calculated based on…
Sentiment is dealt a body blow on account of the emergence of a global health alert Just when Sri Lankan businesses thought a semblance of normalcy was emerging following the negative impacts of the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks last year, they’ve been hit by another blow in the form of COVID-19. The infectious disease caused…
By the Economic Intelligence Unit of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce The outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) is having its toll on the global economy with many economists now expecting a larger impact than the SARS outbreak in 2002-03. The outbreak is lowering China’s GDP growth expectations in the first quarter to 4.5%, a…
Post – election economic positivity erodes as corporates adopt a wait and see mindset The economy according to the latest LMD- Nielsen Business confidence index (BCI ) survey, the share of respondents who say the economy will improve in the coming 12-months has fallen to 62% in January from 74% in the previous month. Commenting…
ICRA Lanka Limited, subsidiary of ICRA Limited, a group company of Moody’s Investors Service urges CBSL and Sri Lankan companies, including some of the biggest SOEs to get ready for the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) transition which is scheduled for 2021. “Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), Sri Lankan commercial banks and companies, including some…
The trade deficit contracted marginally in November with both imports and exports declining, according to data released by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL). In the first 11 months of last year, the trade deficit contraction compared to the corresponding period of the previous year is attributed to a major drop in expenditure on…
The value of a currency depends on number of factors that affect the economy of a country such as balance of payment, government debt, foreign exchange reserves, foreign investment, trade deficit, economic growth rate, inflation, macro-economic policies etc. The general belief is that, a strong currency would make imports cheaper and exports uncompetitive while a…
Sri Lanka received 1.9 million tourists last year, with December recording the highest number of arrivals with 241,663 tourists since the Easter bombings in April the latest data released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) showed. According to official data, 1,913,702 tourists had visited Sri Lanka in 2019. It is a decline of 18.0% from the 2,333,796…
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