Super-luxury Marella Discovery calls on Colombo Port

Boosting the revival of the tourism industry in Sri Lanka, Aitken Spence Maritime-facilitated Marella Cruises sailed its largest super-luxury cruise ship, Marella Discovery of the Marella fleet, to the Port of Colombo.

Tourism authorities to take stern action against ‘foreigners only’ outfits

The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLDA) yesterday cautioned the licensed establishments, which adopt discriminatory practices against local tourists with a ‘foreigners only’ policy, with stern actions.

CB to liquidate 2 finance firms; grants additional time to The Finance

The Central Bank plans to move ahead with the liquidation of the two troubled non-banking financial institutions, ETI Finance Limited (ETIFL) and Swarnamahal Financial Services, formerly owned by the Edirisinghe family, while allowing one last opportunity to The Finance Company PLC (TFC) to find a prospective investor to restructure the firm.

Non-bank sector NPLs edge up; banks’ stable

The non-performing loan (NPL) ratio of the licensed finance company sector has edged up to 9.8 percent in October while the ratio for the licensed commercial banks stood steady at 4.9 percent amid the pick up in private credit.

Govt. mulls central database for citizen information

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has paid his attention to setting up a central database for citizens’ data, his office said in a media communiqué.

Seven banks fail to comply with CB order to bring down prime lending rates

The financial sector regulator, the Central Bank (CB), will initiate ‘appropriate measures’ against seven banks, which have failed to comply with the regulator’s order to bring down the Average Weighted Prime Lending Rate (AWPR) by 250 basis points, by the end of last week.

SriLankan Airlines concludes an award-winning year

SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier and a member of the oneworld alliance, reaffirming the success of its marketing communication endeavours, concludes 2019 with seven global awards.

Experience Centre Asia: Showcasing new future of work, today

According to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, our industry does not respect tradition - it only respects innovation.

A Block to be unchained? –Blockchain implementation in Sri Lanka

The Fortune Business Insight estimated that the global blockchain technology market size is expected to reach US$ 21,070 million by the end of 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 38.4 percent, showing a promising start for the upcoming technology.

Hydropower still the largest renewable energy source for electricity generation in Sri Lanka

From ancient times, humans have used the force of water flowing in streams and rivers to produce motivepower. However, such use is not very evident in the history of Sri Lanka.

CB forecasts growth to pick up to 4-4.5% next year

The Central Bank (CB) has forecast 4 to 4.5 percent economic growth and below 4 percent inflation for next year, backed by the new government’s economic revival programme while meeting estimated US$ 4.8 billion external debt servicing for the year.

Korean lender to buy LOLC’s stake in Prasac for US$ 603mn

South Korea’s KB Kookmin Bank has said its board has agreed to acquire 70 percent stake in Cambodia’s Prasac Microfinance Institution for US$ 603.4 million from Sri Lanka’s LOLC Holdings, subject to regulatory approval.

Sriyan De Silva Wijeyeratne quits Abans

Sriyan De Silva Wijeyeratne has resigned from the post of Chief Executive Officer of Abans PLC with effect from December 16, 2019.

Government may consider re-introducing banking sector consolidation under new approach: Cabraal

Sri Lanka’s new government headed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa may re-introduce the banking and financial sector consolidation if the need arises, a top government official said.

Govt. gets first foreign investment; land lease to generate US$ 43mn

The government is set to receive US$ 43 million by leasing a plot of land located between Beira Lake and Shangri-La hotel on the Baladaksha Mawatha.

Moratorium on SME loans may extend to interest payments

The government is considering extending the 12-month capital moratorium on non-performing loans (NPLs) of small and medium-scale (SME) businesses to interest payments, acknowledging the difficulties in meeting interest payments by some default SME debtors.

Central Bank to penalise banks not complying with lending rate caps

Several large and small banks are likely to face penalties as they are yet to fully comply with Central Bank’s (CB) lending rate caps.

New CB Governor looks for alternative policy approach to deliver development

Following is the full text of the speech made by new Central Bank Governor Deshamanya Prof. W.D. Lakshman at the Monetary Policy Review press conference held last Friday. He is the 15th Governor of the Central Bank.

Lou Gerstner Jr., though a tyro in computer industry, left his heavy imprint on IBM

Louis Vincent Gerstner Jr., (born March 1, 1942) is an American businessman, best known for his tenure as Chairman of the board and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of IBM, from April 1993 until 2002. He is largely credited with turning IBM’s fortunes around.

Central Bank keeps policy rates unchanged

The Monetary Board of the Central Bank (CB) at the last policy review of the year decided to maintain policy interest rates at their current levels, awaiting the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s policy statement on 3rd January 2020, which is expected to provide further clarity to the broad economic policy framework as well as the fiscal policy direction for the medium term. Accordin

Sri Lanka Tourism shares Christmas spirit with local and foreign tourists

The Tourist Information Centre (TIC) at The Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) of Sri Lanka Tourism had a different atmosphere altogether, getting into the festive mood and bracing up to share the festive cheer w

Asian stocks mixed after Christmas results cheer Wall Street

HONG KONG (AFP) - Asian markets were mixed yesterday following another strong lead from Wall Street where tech stocks won big with strong Christmas results. The tech-heavy Nasdaq finished above 9,000 for the first time on Thursday, hitting its 10th straight record fuelled by gains by e-commerce behemoth Amazon and other tech giants. The Dow and the S&P 500 also close

SriLankan supports Addu Marathon in Maldives

SriLankan Airlines supported an international sports event – the Addu Marathon – on Gan Island where it recently celebrated three years of operations.

Saudi, Kuwait ink deal to resume joint oil output

KUWAIT CITY (AFP) - Saudi Arabia and Kuwait signed an agreement this week to resume pumping at two major oilfields in a shared neutral zone shut for five years due to a bilateral disagreement,

S. Korean builder takes control of Asiana Airlines for US$ 2.2 bn

SEOUL (AFP) - A South Korean construction firm yesterday signed a deal to acquire Asiana, the country’s second-largest airline, which has long been plagued by financial problems.

EU chief doubts securing post-Brexit trade deal in 2020

PARIS (AFP) - European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has expressed “serious concern” over whether the bloc could conclude a post-Brexit trade deal with Britain within the 2020 deadline.

Stocks gain ahead of CB’s policy rate decision

Indices at the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) gained yesterday amid investors expecting further relaxing of the monetary policy by the Central Bank.

MBSL needs up to Rs.2.7bn in fresh equity over next 3 years to meet regulatory capital: ICRA Lanka

The Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka and Finance PLC (MBSL), a subsidiary of Bank of Ceylon would require around Rs.1.4 to Rs.2.7 billion fresh equity over the next three years to meet the regulatory capital requirements set by the Central Bank, according to ICRA Lanka Ratings.

Altair among top-notch property companies at LPS Shanghai 2019

The investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s property development sector generated significant interest at the 2019 Luxury Properties Showcase (LPS) exhibition in Shanghai, China, according to Altair, one of the leading participants from South Asia at the invitation-only event, which attracted a record 12,500 elite property investors from around the world.

SDB Bank secures US$ 8mn BIO term loan

SANASA Development Bank PLC (SDB Bank) has secured a US$ 8 million loan from Belgian Investment Company for Development Countries NV/SA (BIO) to augment its capital buffers under Basel III guidelines and support its lending activities for small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs).