By Dr Lakmini Fernando Realising Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 requires substantial investment allocation, especially for developing economies like Sri Lanka. A recent IPS study found that Sri Lanka needs an additional investment of USD 1.4 trillion or 12.5 percentage points of GDP by 2030 to achieve SDGs. Despite Budget 2024 allocating 5.4% of…
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) handed over two specially designed climate resilient fishing boats and 30 modified fish display stalls to the Ministry of Fisheries, in line with FAO’s commitment to sustainable development and addressing climate change challenges. The SL20 and SL23 fishing boats, measuring 6.3 and 7 meters in…
The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce appreciates the Board approval of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) completion of its first review under the 48-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) with Sri Lanka. This milestone, granting Sri Lanka access to approximately US$337 million, underscores the nation’s commitment to fulfilling key performance criteria and benchmarks. Notably, this includes the…
Fitch Ratings: Fitch Ratings expects continuity to be the main theme of the elections among our rated Asian sovereigns due in 2024, but we view the chance of election outcomes influencing credit profiles as being higher in Pakistan (CCC) and Sri Lanka (Restricted Default, ‘RD’), which are both dependent on successful IMF programme implementation and…
China’s first internally developed large cruise ship ‘Adora Magic City’ is ready to sail (323.6 M in length, 72.2 M in height, gross weight 135,500 tonnes, capacity to accommodate approx. 5250 passengers in 2125 guest rooms).The ship will operate from Shanghai managed by an international crew of approx. 1300. It is expected to take routes…
The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority reports that the number of foreign tourists who visited Sri Lanka in the first 10 days of December 2023 is 57,394. Consequently, the total count of foreign tourists arriving in the country in 2023 has been documented as 1,334,345. On December 10th, a group of 8,696 tourists visited Sri…
The IMF Board completed the first review under the 48-month Extended Fund Facility with Sri Lanka, providing the country with access to SDR 254 million (about US$337 million) to support its economic policies and reforms. Sri Lanka’s performance under the program was satisfactory. All but one performance criteria and all but one indicative targets were…
In a pioneering breakthrough, 1990 Suwa Seriya, Sri Lanka’s national pre-hospital emergency ambulance service, is ushering in a new era in emergency healthcare through its innovative Connected Ambulance. Powered by state-of-the-art Mixed Reality and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, this groundbreaking initiative is set to revolutionise the landscape of pre-hospital care emergency medical response, not only…
Sri Lanka’s largest private sector bank, the Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC was recently issued an Authorised Person (AP) license to offer offshore banking services within the Colombo Port City, the 269-hectare special economic zone (SEZ), tasked with establishing a premier multi-currency international business and financial services hub that will transform the country’s economic landscape….
Citrus Leisure PLC, in a groundbreaking collaboration with Colombo Lotus Tower Management Company, proudly unveiled Sri Lanka’s first-ever revolving restaurant, ‘Blue Orbit,’ on the 27th floor of the majestic Colombo Lotus Tower, South Asia’s tallest self-supported structure. Two landmark launch events were held on the 09 and 10 December to mark this significant milestone in…
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