Japanese Finance Minister Suzuki to visit SL this week

Japanese Finance Minister Suzuki Shunichi would undertake an official visit to Sri Lanka this week, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said. Shunichi will be in the country from January 11 to 12, 2024. During the visit, Shunichi is scheduled to have official discussions with President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Sabry. During their stay in Sri Lanka, Shunichi and the Japanese delegation will visit Parliament, Jayawardene Cent

DIMO honoured by SAFA for Corporate Reporting once again

DIMO continues to shine at a global scale clinching the Joint Gold Award in the Diversified Category, and another Gold Award for Integrated Reporting at the recent South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) Best Presented Annual Report Awards, Integrated Reporting Awards, and SAARC Anniversary Awards for Corporate Governance Disclosures Competition 2022 showcasing its excellence in corporate reporting.  These accolades underscore DIMO’s dedicat

Browns’ Exide powers Katukurunda Speed 2023

Exide, the leader in automotive batteries in Sri Lanka was yet again one of the sponsors of the renowned Katukurunda Speed 2023. Organised by Sri Lanka Automobile Sports (SLAS) in collaboration with its 10 member clubs, the much-awaited event took place at the Katukurunda Racing Circuit in December. Celebrating its third consecutive year, the race showcased 16 categories, harnessing the finest four-wheel racing drivers across Sri Lanka. Commentin

Honda weighs US$ 14bn plan for EV production in Canada

Nikkei Asia: Honda Motor is considering building an electric vehicle plant in Canada, with the project to possibly involve in-house production of batteries, Nikkei has learned. Overall spending on the project could reach 2 trillion yen (US$ 14 billion), making it one of the Japanese automaker’s largest investments as it hopes to catch U.S. and European rivals in EV production. Honda is looking at several potential sites, including next to an exi

Can EVs be a win-win for Sri Lanka’s transportation industry?

A common unfortunate experience shared by Sri Lankans is being exposed to clouds of unpleasant emissions from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. This is a growing challenge, especially considering Sri Lanka’s ageing vehicle fleets. Accordingly, 70 percent of Sri Lanka’s total air pollution is attributed to the transport sector. According to statistics released by PUCSL, there are more than 1.1 million internal combustion engine (ICE) veh

State sector cadre continues to remain worse off as wages failed to budge

Roughly 1.5 million state sector employees have continued to see their real incomes plunged, leaving them further worse off from where they were, as they haven’t seen their wages rising at all.

CSE announces disciplinary action against Bimputh Finance board

The capital market operator, the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), yesterday announced that disciplinary action has been taken against Bimputh Finance PLC, for non-compliance. Since the company has failed to submit the annual report for the financial year ended on March 31, 2022 and therefore continues to act in violation of the listing rules, a decision has been taken to impose a penalty.

Odel to raise Rs.3.3bn via rights issue

Odel PLC, a subsidiary of diversified conglomerate Softlogic Holdings PLC, announced on Friday (5) its requirement to raise the company’s stated capital. In a filing to the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), Odel PLC said it is looking to raise Rs.3.3 billion from the shareholders. Accordingly, the number of ordinary shares issued will be 272,129,431, at a consideration of Rs.12.15 each. The ordinary shares will be issued in proportion of one ordinar

Colombo challenges 18% VAT surge

The New Wings organisation yesterday held a protest in Colombo against the recent increase in Value Added Tax (VAT) to 18 percent to expand the state revenue. While several efforts are being rolled out to strengthen the local tax system, including getting the population above 18 years of age Tax Identification Numbers (TINs), the move is not well-received by the public.

SriLankan affirms no equipment sourced from AOG Technics

SriLankan Airlines yesterday affirmed that it has not sourced any equipment from AOG Technics. The entity was removed from the supplier list a few months back. In a statement to the media yesterday, SriLankan Airlines said that in a subsequent scheduled European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) audit, it was specifically asked if AOG Technics was a supplier. At the time, SriLankan Airlines confirmed that AOG Technics was on the airline’s app

CBSL to raise Rs.100bn at weekly T-bill auction

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) expects to raise Rs.100 billion at the weekly Treasury bill (T-bill) auction. The auction is scheduled to take place on January 10. Rs.30.0 billion is to be raised from the 91-day maturities; Rs.40 billion is to be raised out of the 182-day maturities, while Rs.30 billion is to be raised from the 364-day maturities, respectively.

Tea brokers call on IRD to speed up VAT/SVAT registrations of factories

Tea Brokers called on the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) to step up efforts and accelerate the registrations of tea factories by this week so that the Colombo Tea Auction can function without any....

Aitken Spence hands over dividend cheque to Fiji government

Prime Minister of Fiji, Sitiveni Rabuka accepting the Dividend Cheque from the Directors representing the Shareholders, Dr. Parakrama Dissanayake, Dy. Chairman/ Managing Director....

FACETS 2024 sees impacts of VAT changes, says SLGJA Chief

The changes brought to the Value Added Tax (VAT) did not even spare the FACETS gem and jewellery exhibition that kicked off over the weekend, as buyers who rely mainly on foreign gemstones....

Year 2023 workers’ remittances reach US$ 6 bn 

Workers’ remittances reached US$ 6 billion in 2023, indicating an improvement and a steady inflow of foreign exchange from migrant workers via official banking channels, provisional ....

SEC approves regulatory framework for Infrastructure Bonds

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) yesterday announced the approval of a regulatory framework to facilitate the issuance and listing of Infrastructure Bonds on the Colombo Stock Exchange....

HIP sees RO-RO transshipment volumes expand 26% in 2023

The Hambantota International Port (HIP) has become the fastest growing RO-RO transshipment port in the region with the handling of 700,000 transshipment vehicles, and marking a significant 26....

Tourism earnings reach US$ 2 bn for first time since pandemic

For the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic, earnings from tourism reached US$ 2 billion, provisional data from the Central Bank showed. The tourism industry....

DFCC’s BASEL III listed debentures oversubscribed

The latest debenture issue by DFCC bank to raise Rs. 8 billion was oversubscribed on its opening day, January 5. An initial issue of 50 million BASEL....

Connect to Care forges path towards positive social impact in Sri Lanka

Renowned Sri Lankan tech entrepreneur Chandita Samaranayake has launched Connect to Care, a pioneering charitable consulting firm aimed at delivering mutual benefit for corporates, non-profits....

HNB and 3W Global Education join hands to empower students

Sri Lanka’s leading private sector bank HNB PLC partnered 3W Global Education (Pvt.) Ltd (3WGE), a trailblazer in providing educational services, to empower students with affordable financial....

SLASSCOM WTech Forum fuels acceleration for regional female tech entrepreneurs

In its pursuit of addressing the crucial need for technological education and business acumen within Sri Lanka’s small and medium enterprise landscape, the Sri Lanka Association of Software and Services....

Fintech emerges as key player in elevating financial literacy in Sri Lanka – Robocash

Robocash’s recent observations underscore the pivotal role of the synergy between financial literacy and fintech in addressing economic challenges for individuals in Sri Lanka. This transformative....

Uber partners with UNDP SL to raise awareness against sexual and gender-based violence

Violence against women and girls is one of the most widespread, persistent and devastating human rights violations in our world today and remains largely unreported due to the impunity....

AIA APAC Bancassurance Summit in Hong Kong: Shaping tomorrow’s banking partnerships

The recent AIA APAC Bancassurance Summit in Hong Kong made waves as industry leaders from across the region gathered together to explore the future of financial collaboration. Notable....

HNB Finance clinches Bronze at TAGS Awards 2023

The TAGS Awards Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) proudly announced HNB Finance PLC as the Bronze award winner in the Non-Bank Financial Institutions....

ComBank supports GLF 2024 as Official Banking Partner

Commercial Bank of Ceylon has announced its support for the Galle Literary Festival (GLF) – rated “the world’s No 1 literary festival” by Harper’s Bazaar – as the festival’s Official Banking....

Sanasa Life Insurance secures Gold at TAGS Awards 2023

Sanasa Life Insurance, a leading insurance service provider in the country, claimed the Gold award in the category of insurance sector (gross premium income up to one billion rupees) at the 58th....

Senfin Securities appoints Dasun Perera as Chief Executive Officer

Senfin Securities Limited has announced the appointment of Dasun Perera as Chief Executive Officer, with effect from January 1, 2024. Senfin Securities....

Ceylinco VIP to deliver vehicle insurance at customers’ doorsteps within 24 hrs

In yet another industry first, Ceylinco General Insurance announced that it would be introducing a new process to deliver Ceylinco VIP On The Spot vehicle insurance policies at customers’ doorsteps....