Expenditure on personal vehicle imports declined considerably by 93.6% in July 2020, the lowest monthly outlay since 8 December 2009, the Central Bank said in its latest report. According to the CBSL, The year-on-year declining trend observed in expenditure on merchandise imports since March 2020 continued in July 2020 as well, recording a decline of…
Severe economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic will lead to a sharp increase in government borrowing needs Financing pressures to persist for lowest-rated sovereigns with large upcoming external debt repayments and limited track records in securing market financing Moody’s Investors Service says in a new report that while global financing conditions have eased markedly in…
According to the latest external trade data released by the Central Bank, country’s trade deficit narrowed in July 2020, with a more than expected rebound in merchandise exports and notable reduction in merchandise imports. Sri Lanka’s external sector recovered further in July 2020 supported by an increase in merchandise exports and increased workers’ remittances amidst reduced merchandise…
COVID-19 has led to an unprecedented health and economic crisis, deepening the existing poverty and climate crises. As Sri Lanka works to build ‘forward’ better coming out of the pandemic, driving change in the people-environment nexus to protect the health of people and natural resources is key to a future that does not repeat the…
Sri Lanka’s gross official reserves grew by US$344.7 million to US$ 7,440.5 million in August 2020 from US$ 7,095.8 million in June 2020, latest Central Bank data showed. By the end of August, foreign currency reserves were 6,941.3 million dollars while the reserve position in the IMF was 67.9 million dollars. Reserves in Gold were…
The Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Sri Lanka and the Maldives in collaboration with the University of Peradeniya announced EU-funded Capacity Building for Higher Education (CBHE) projects for 2020 on 10 September 2020. The announcement took place at the University of Peradeniya together with 15 other participant institutions. The EU in Sri Lanka…
EDB welcomes another month of near $1bn exports Sri Lanka’s exports during the month of August 2020 recorded a downfall of 19.2% to US$ 947.7 million as compared to the value of US$ 1,033.3 Mn recorded same month of last year. Despite the decline in exports, some products like Coconut based products, Electricals & Electronic…
Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka Chargé d’ Affaires Hu Wei invited State Minister of Regional Cooperation Tharaka Balasuriya, together with a big team of senior diplomats from Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry for a field visit to the Lotus Tower and the Colombo Port City on 8 September. After a breathtaking bird-view of grand Colombo area…
The Beijing Swift – By Prof. Samitha Hettige © The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) held its 2020 Foreign Ministers meeting in Moscow recently. It is a Eurasian political, economic, and security alliance and was created at the turn of the century in Shanghai, China at a gathering of the heads of state of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC), Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Other than the PRC…
The Colombo Stock Market has recorded a noteworthy turnaround in recent months, driven by a progress of the indices and improved investor interest. Since reopening the market on 11 May 2020 following an extended closure as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the benchmark All Share Price Index (ASPI) has recorded an 18.97% gain since…
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