Luxury tax to hinder govt.’s plan to collect Rs.48bn from vehicle imports: VIASL

The proposed luxury tax on vehicles will hinder the government’s ambitious target of collecting Rs.48 billion in revenue from duties, as the proposed tax would lead to drastic decline in vehicle imports to the country,

Sri Lanka launches dollar bond sale, orders top US $3bn

(Hong Kong) REUTERS: Sri Lanka launched the sale of U.S. dollar-denominated bonds yesterday and orders topped US$3 billion, according to a term sheet seen by Reuters. It was not immediately cl

February tourist arrivals up 7%

Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka during February rose 7 percent year-on-year (YoY) to 252, 033, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority said in a brief note. In February last year, 235,618 tourists visited Sri Lanka.

TEA says Budget 2019 “below expectation” of tea exporters

The Tea Exporters Association (TEA) yesterday said the proposals in Budget 2019 were “somewhat below the expectations of tea exporters”. “The reduction of the Economic Service Charge from 0.50 percent to 0.25 percent would certainly benefit the exporters, as it would ease the cash flow issue to some extent. The reduction of the Port and Airport Lev

Condo industry enjoys strong growth despite low urbanisation rates

Sri Lanka’s dull urbanisation rate, estimated by the United Nations, is to be at 18-18.2 percent, while the country’s Megapolis Ministry claims it to be at 42 percent, according to Indocean Developers (Pvt.) Ltd Director Pradeep Moraes. The real estate developer noted that taking an average of the two estimations would not suffice as Sri Lanka would still be below the global urbanisation average, which is around 50 percent.

SLASSCOM-Norway to collaborate on ICT development, start-up initiatives

The Sri Lanka Association of Software and Services Companies (SLASSCOM) and Norwegian Foreign Affairs Ministry expressed their intent to further collaborate in developing the information and communication technology (ICT) sector for sustainable employment generation in the future and to bring about innovation through knowledge transfer programmes. A letter of intent in this regard was signed by Norweg

Govt. debt-to-GDP ratio hits highest level since 2005

The government debt to GDP is estimated to have risen sharply to the highest levels since 2005, to 83.6 percent of GDP by end-2018, from 77.6 percent of GDP recorded at end-2017, according to the provisional figures released by the

Ceylon Chamber says “realistic budget”

Sri Lanka’s premier business chamber, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC), yesterday identified Budget 2019 as a “more realistic budget”, given the current political and economic situation of the country. “The 2019 national budget proposes a mix of me

CMTA offers assistance to govt. for proper implementation of luxury tax

The Ceylon Motor Traders Association (CMTA), which represents all major international vehicle manufacturers in Sri Lanka, yesterday offered its assistance to the government to properly impose the luxury tax proposed in the budget presented on Tuesday. Budget 2019 proposed to impo

Sharp increase in vehicle taxes; Govt. expects to rake in Rs.48bn in revenue

Sri Lanka raised duties on vehicles across the board and imposed a heavy luxury tax on certain models as the government used increasing number of motorcars on congested roads to shore up its revenues by a mammoth Rs.48 billion.

Taxes on cigarettes, liquor and casinos up

The government yesterday announced plans to further raise taxes on the so-called sin industries—alcohol, tobacco and gaming, as it unveiled a broadly welfare-oriented budged, targeting the forthcoming elections.

Goverment disallows foreign construction firms fully undertaking State-funded projects

Sri Lanka will ban foreign construction companies undertaking government projects without a partnership with a local entity, unless the project is fully financed by foreign parties.

Spending-heavy Budget 2019 targets elections

Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera yesterday walked a tightrope presenting his second budget, trying his best to balance people’s aspirations in the backdrop of impending elections while proposing

Govt. urged to deal with ineffective SOE director boards

The country’s Finance Ministry should be empowered to deal with the ineffective director boards of the loss-making state-owned enterprises (SOEs), as notions of privatisation or public-private partnerships (PPPs) seem unrealistic, given the current political environment, according to National Agency for Public-Private Partnership Chairman Thilan Wijesinghe.

JKH back on MSCI Frontier Markets 100 Index

Sri Lanka’s premier blue chip John Keells Holdings PLC (JKH) is back on the MCSI Frontier Markets 100 Index after being dropped in June, last year, largely due to the low daily turnover volume and general lacklustre conditions prevailed at the Colombo bourse, at the time.

Nasdaq raises offer price to buy Norway stock exchange

REUTERS: Nasdaq Inc. yesterday sweetened its offer to buy Norway-based exchange operator Oslo Bors to 158 Norwegian krones per Oslo Bors share from 152 Norwegian krones.

Sampath Bank in fresh Rs.12.1bn shareholder cash call

Sampath Bank PLC has announced plans to raise Rs.12.1 billion in a seven for 23 rights issue, as the lender attempts to bolster its core capital, barely a year after it raised a similar amount in a rights issue.

SL to amend laws to share DCS’ data with private sector

As the economic significance of data increases day by day, Sri Lanka plans to introduce legal amendments to the statistic law of the country, to share the data gathered by the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) with the private sector, aiming to fuel the future growth of the economy.

Work on Bingiriya EPZ begins

The work on the proposed export processing zone (EPZ) in Bingiriya was inaugurated by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday. The zone, which is set to spread across 1200 acres,

Govt. aims fiscal deficit of 4.4% of GDP this year

The government aims to bring down the fiscal deficit to 4.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year, to be in line with the deficit target of 3.5 percent of GDP set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for 2020.

What ails tea industry and what can be done to boost tea export revenue?

The note under reference hopefully will help the government to boost exports out of Sri Lanka and formulate policies for potential sectors to collectively go beyond a US $ 25 billion export economy and perhaps retain a surplus after debt redemption in the national budget and free ourselves from the international loan sharks, who come as guardian angels.

ADB pledges further US $ 75mn to serve Lankan MSME sector

As Sri Lanka continues to perform below the potential in making finance accessible to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), compared to the nations with similar economic status, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) last week pledged it would continue to support the island nation to improve access to financing for small businesses.

Govt.’s PPP boss says Sri Lanka may need to revisit some past privatisation deals

National Agency for Public-Private Partnership Chairman Thilan Wijesinghe last week said the government may want to revisit the already enacted privatisation agreements, including that of Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT), as there were fundamental flaws in these agreements.

ICRA Lanka revises and suspends troubled MTD Walker’s rating

ICRA Lanka Limited, a group company of Moody’s Investors Service, has further revised down the rating of debt-saddled construction firm MTD Walkers and also suspended the rating of the company.

February inflation rises to 4%

Sri Lanka’s inflation in its capital Colombo rose to 4 percent in February on a year-on-year basis, from 3.7 percent in January, the data released by the Census and Statistics Department showed.

Sri Lanka’s 2019 budget set to woo voters ahead of key elections

(Colombo) REUTERS: Sri Lankan Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera’s 2019 budget next week will attempt to stick to the fiscal targets set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), while raising spending on farmers and public servants to woo voters ahead of the polls later this year. The government, led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, has come under heavy criticism for higher taxes and tight monetary and fiscal policies that have crimped

Adding final touches to Budget 2019

Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera is seen in deep conversation with Treasury Secretary Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunga, as he was adding the final touches to Budget 2019, at his private residence ‘Rainbow End’, in Gorakana, Panadura, on Saturday. Samaraweera is expected to commence the budget speech at 1:30 p.m., on Tuesday, in Parliament

Johnson & Johnson resumes production of baby talc in India after tests find no asbestos

(New Delhi) REUTERS: Johnson & Johnson has resumed production of its baby powder at plants in India after the government tests found no asbestos in the product, the company said on Thursday.

‘Medicare 2019’

The 10th edition of Sri Lanka’s only healthcare exhibition, ‘Medicare 2019’ opened at the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial Exhibition Hall yesterday, under the patronage of Health Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne. Large crowds were seen making maximum use of the free medical services available on the opening day.

Northern economy to be linked to exports via youth force

One of the lowest provincial contributors to the national GDP, Sri Lanka’s Northern Province is to be linked to the export supply chain –and not by the Province’ manufacturing output but more so by leveraging an abundant resource, the robust youth within the Province. “I am positive that this initiative can commence the linking