The Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, at its meeting held on 21 October 2020, decided to maintain the Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) and the Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) of the Central Bank at their current levels of 4.50 per cent and 5.50 per cent, respectively, thereby continuing the prevailing…
Headline inflation as measured by the year-on-year (Y-o-Y) change in the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI, 2013=100)1 increased to 6.4% in September 2020 from 6.2% in August 2020. This was driven by the monthly increases in prices of items in both Food and Non-food categories. Meanwhile, Food inflation (Y-o-Y) decreased to 12.7% in September 2020…
Sri Lankan stock market plunged on Wednesday (21). Colombo’s main, All Share Price Index (ASPI) fell 249.56 points or 4.21% to close 5,684.67. Meanwhile, the S&P SL20 index of most liquid stocks fell 95.46 points or 4% to end at 2,292.10. The market recorded a daily turnover of Rs.3.24 billion.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has appointed Lord Davies of Abersoch CBE as the new Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy for Sri Lanka. Lord Davies will support the UK’s trade and investment promotion objectives through high-level access to Sri Lankan and UK stakeholders, opening doors for UK businesses to catalyse deals that will bring benefits to…
Lanka Premier League (LPL) catches Bollywood attention as film maker, producer, writer and actor, Sohail Khan became the proud owner of the Kandy Tuskers franchisee in the T20 League scheduled to be played from November 21 to December 13, 2020 at Pallekele and Hambantota. Kandy franchisee, which picked West Indies legend Chris Gayle in the…
The Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2020, the premier economic forum, this year too will have a lineup of timely plenary discussions under the theme ‘Roadmap for Take-Off: Driving a People-Centric Economic Revival’. The private sector has often been labelled as the engine of economic growth though this has not been the case consistently due to numerous factors. Industry specialists…
The Cabinet of Ministers has granted approval for the University of Moratuwa and the University of Aalto in Finland to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The resolution was tabled by the Minister of Education G. L. Pieris. This MoU is expected to initiate corporation, facilities, conduct combined researches and other activities between the…
The risk of a second coronavirus wave, together with weak borrower sentiment in an already fragile operating environment, would put further stress on Sri Lankan finance and leasing companies’ (FLCs) credit profiles, adding to existing pressures on asset quality and profitability, Fitch rating agency said yesterday (20). These risks will test FLCs’ loss-absorbing capacity, but…
The India SME Accelerator Network, together with the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI) and the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL), hosted a webinar on ‘Business Opportunities in Sri Lanka’. Held on 8 October, the event was supported by the India-ASEAN Sri Lanka Chamber of Commerce and Industry….
Overall earnings plunge due to bleak economic climate, however, Banks and Food, Staples & Retailing remain robust March quarter earnings dipped by 51.9% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs. 33.6 billion for 266 companies, primarily owing to sluggish performance in Diversified Financials (-87%YoY), Capital Goods (-63%YoY), Food, Beverage & Tobacco (-72%YoY), Telecommunication (-52%YoY) and Consumer Services (-101%YoY),…
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