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…
Sri Lanka’s inflation, as measured by the change in the Colombo Consumers’ Price Index (CCPI), increased to 4.8% in December 2019 from 4.4% in November 2019, the Department of Census and Statistics reported. The CCPI for all items for the month of December 2019 was 132.4 and it records an increase of 0.7 index points…
Corporates are optimistic following a series of encouraging policy implementations According to the latest monthly LMD-Nielsen Business Confidence index (BCI) survey, almost two-thirds (up from less than a third in the prior month) of respondents consulted by Nielsen, for LMD’s publisher Media Services, anticipate that the economy will improve in the next 12 months. This…
Earnings of listed companies in the September quarter have declined by 9.6% to Rs.45.8 billion largely owing to a weaker performance by Insurance, Consumer Services, Capital goods and Beverage and Tobacco sectors. Analysing interim financials reported by 264 companies, First Capital Research revealed that September quarter earnings dipped by 9.6%YoY to LKR 45.8Bn primarily due…
Sri Lanka’s activities in the economy improved post-presidential election driven by positive sentiments from the local investors, a rating agency said. “Bourse saw gains especially in Manufacturing, Trading, Power & Energy, and Beverage, Food, & Tobacco sectors. Demand for government securities surged causing the yield curve to push down easing off the cost of borrowing…
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