Minister of Finance and Mass Media Mangala Samaraweera will leave for Washington on Jan 11 to get the IMF External Fund Facility (EFF) back on track. He will be meeting Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, Mitsuhiro Furusawa, Deputy Managing Director, Chanyong Rhee, Director, Asia Pacific Department, Manuel Goretti, Team Leader and other members of the IMF…
Reuters – ** Sri Lanka’s rupee closed higher on Wednesday as foreign banks sold dollars but political uncertainty dented investor sentiment, dragging the benchmark stock index down to a more than six-week low. ** The Colombo Stock Index fell 0.17 percent to end at 5,982.19, its lowest close since Nov. 27, as worried investors awaited…
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has agreed to provide USD 400 mn to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) under its SAARC SWAP facility. CBSL has also requested a further bilateral SWAP arrangement of USD 1 billion between the RBI and CBSL which is under consideration. The RBI’s very rapid and timely assistance…
Sri Lanka must repay US $5.9 billion this year, including a $3 billion fresh borrowing – CBSL Sri Lanka’s government plans to increase government spending by 13.2% from last year to nearly over US $ 24.5 billion or Sri Lankan Rs. 4.47 trillion, the Finance Ministry has said recently. Accordingly Government also plans to…
Recent reports outline that a consortium of investors is to infuse Rs. 700 million in to MBSL Insurance Ltd., as part of an overall initiative to resume the business. However reports outline that the Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka and Finance Plc (MBSL) insurance subsidiary is currently suspended due to failure to comply with minimum…
Reuters – ** Sri Lanka’s rupee ended weaker on Tuesday as importer dollar demand and continued outflows of foreign funds from government bonds and stock markets due to political uncertainty dented investor sentiment. The bourse fell to a six-week low. ** The Colombo Stock Index fell 0.51 percent to settle at 5,992.36, its lowest close…
Seylan Bank recently signed an agreement with Union Pay International (UPI), to enable UnionPay Credit and Debit Cardholders to utilise the bank’s ATM and Point of Sale (POS) network to carry out financial transactions locally. The partnership permits UnionPay Cardholders from China and other parts of the world to withdraw cash from the bank’s 210…
Reiterating the commitment towards the nation, the Bank of Ceylon, Banker’s to the Nation now contributes 1MWT Solar Photovoltaic energy to the national grid. This is probably the first time a state institution has gone beyond its core business to generate value of this scale for the country as an act of social responsibility. It…
The approval of the Cabinet of Ministers was granted to the Appropriation Bill-2019, submitted by the Finance and Media Minister, Mangala Samaraweera. Accordingly, this year’s state expenditure will be Rs 4,470 and the budget deficit will be 4.8 % of the GDP. The State revenue which was 11.5 % of the GDP in the year…
LAHORE: Sri Lanka has sought removal of non-tariff barriers (NTBs) and other issues to improve trade with Pakistan. Addressing the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Monday, High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to Pakistan Noordeen Mohamed Shaheid said that though the two countries signed Free Trade Agreement (FTA), certain issues including NTBs need to…
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