In view of the Government declaring a special public holiday for three (3) days effective from 17th March 2020 and requesting the private sector to follow suit, except for maintaining essential services which have been specified, and also considering the other preventive steps that have been taken by the Government today, the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), in consultation with Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka, has decided that the CSE will remain closed on Wednesday, 18th March 2020 for Trading.

Accordingly,  the market will be closed tomorrow, stated the CSE.

Kindly note that the market closure is to minimize public interactions in curbing the spread of COVID-19 and to ensure the safety of all market participants, CSE's Chief Regulatory Officer Renuke Wijayawardhane said.

Accordingly, This will be the 5th consecutive day (including last weekend) that the market has been closed for trading.