Moody’s downgrades Sri Lanka on political crisis

Delivering the first major blow to crisis-ridden Sri Lanka’s economy, Moody’s Investors Service yesterday downgraded the Government of Sri Lanka’s foreign currency issuer and senior unsecured rating

China believes Maldives will make ‘correct choice’ on trade deal

(Beijing) REUTERS: China believes the Maldives will make the ‘correct choice’ to continue with a bilateral free trade deal, a foreign ministry spokesman said yesterday, after a Maldives politician said the tiny nation would pull out of the pact.

Sri Lanka expects bumper rice harvest in Maha season

Sri Lanka expects a bumper harvest of 3.33 million metric tonnes of paddy output in the key Maha season (2018/19), a 40.2 percent year-on-year (YoY) increase, as weather conditions continu

Lubricant market expands in 2Q on base effect

Sri Lanka’s lubricant market leader, Chevron Lubricants Lanka PLC was seen gaining market share lost to its competitors during the second quarter of 2018 (2Q18), the quarterly lubricant mar

Manufacturing and services activities expand in October

Sri Lanka’s manufacturing and services activities expanded during the month of October, according to SL Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) compiled by the Statistics Department of the Central Bank. The manufacturing sector PMI value in Octob

New PM may lose budget even as he clings to power

(Colombo) REUTERS: Sri Lanka’s newly appointed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who lost two motions of no confidence last week, may lose his government’s budget even as he clings to power.

Private sector credit surge in Sept.; state credit follows suit

The credit granted to the private sector by the banks has surged while the credit to the government and public corporations followed suit, as the Central Bank printed money to keep the interest rates low in September.  The banks in September gave a 

Colombo Dockyard returns to profit in Sept. quarter

Sri Lanka’s largest shipbuilder, Colombo Dockyard PLC (DOCK), a unit of Japan’s Onomichi Dockyard, returned to profit during the September quarter (3Q18), after two quarters of losses, larg

Rupee hits record low amid continued political uncertainty

(Colombo) REUTERS: The Sri Lankan rupee fell to an all-time low of 177.35 per dollar yesterday, as political uncertainty outweighed the positive impact of a policy rate hike, sources said. Stocks closed weaker for the second straight session due to political uncertainty and the policy rate hike. The political uncertainty rem

LSE moves bond trading from London to Italy ahead of Brexit

(Milan/London) REUTERS: The London Stock Exchange will move its European government bond trading from London to Italy before Britain’s exit from the European Union next March, it said yesterday.

Umagiliya assumes duties as BOC Chairman

Former Monetary Board member Neil Umagiliya assumed duties yesterday as the 25th Chairman of state-run Bank of Ceylon (BOC). Umagiliya is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Management Accountants, United Kingdom and a Member of the British Institute of Management.  He is presently 

Tourism industry sees slowdown in bookings during key winter season

Sri Lanka’s tourism industry stakeholders yesterday expressed concerns over the possibility of prospective tourists who would have visited Sri Lanka turning to other alternative destinations due to  the prolonged political crisis, as tourist bookings for the crucial winter season are already showing a slowdown.  Speaking to Mirror Business, key tourism

Uber loss tops US$1 bn as it seeks to diversify

(San Francisco) AFP: Ride-share company Uber said that its net loss topped a billion dollars in the recently ended quarter as it pumped money into bikes, scooters, freight and food delivery.

Sri Lanka’s largest brewer says many spirit makers are tax evaders

Sri Lanka’s largest brewer, Lion Brewery PLC has called for a level-playing field, as according to the firm, a number of players in the country’s spirits industry resort to tax evasion and the regulators have turned a blind eye to such unlawful behaviour.  “Whilst the beer industry has signif

Maldives’ new president warns State coffers ‘looted’ after China-led boom

(Male) REUTERS: The new president of the Maldives took office on Saturday, declaring the State coffers to have been looted and warned that the country was in financial difficulty after racking up debt with Chinese lenders in an infrastructure boom. The Maldives, famous for its lux

UDA approval process delays Rs.8bn third Access Tower

The development of the Rs.8 billion ‘Access Tower 3’ is facing delays due to the current political crisis, as the Urban Development Authority (UDA) is yet to award the lease agreement to Access Realties (Pvt) Ltd. despite the approval of the proposal by the Cabinet of Ministers in September.  The Cabinet approved the propo

Sri Lanka’s IMF loan programme to experience delays

Sri Lanka’s ongoing loan programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has met with delays due to the current political crisis prevailing in the country, Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy said.

Softlogic opens first supermarket

Softlogic Supermarkets Pvt Ltd CEO Andrew Dalby (left) handing over the first purchase made at the newly launched Softlogic GLOMARK in Delkanda to Softlogic Holdings PLC Chairman/MD Ashok Pathirage   

Asia markets mixed with eyes on China-US trade

Asian markets swung throughout yesterday as investors weighed China-US trade speculation, while the pound struggled to stage a strong recovery from the previous day’s Brexit-fuelled bruising. As a volatile week drew to a close, so

U.S. envoy to Japan defends trade policies, say not protectionist

Reuters - “The United States is the most open major economy in the world,” Ambassador William Hagerty told reporters at the Japan National Press Club.  “Japan and other countries have benefited greatly from that openness. So I want to make sure that we don’t mistake our efforts to achieve reciprocity for protectionism.”  U.S. President Donald Trump has roiled Washington’s trade relations around the wo

Rupee ends steady, stocks down 0.20%

The Sri Lanka rupee closed steady at around Rs.176.50/65 against the US dollar yesterday, while stocks ended 0.20 percent lower after another day of chaotic scenes in the country’s legislature as the nation plunges deeper into crisis.  Loyalists of Mahinda Rajapaksa o

EU states wary of losing fishing rights in Brexit deal

BRUSSELS (AFP) - Some EU member states have concerns about the draft Brexit deal, particularly about access to fishing in British waters, but there is little appetite in Brussels to reopen negotiatio

BlackBerry to buy cyber security firm Cylance for US$ 1.4 bn

REUTERS - BlackBerry Ltd said yesterday it will acquire Cylance, an artificial intelligence and cyber security company, for US$1.4 billion in cash to help expand its QNX unit that makes software for next-generation autonomous cars.  Besides the cash compone

Australia takes India to WTO over sugar subsidies

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australia announced yesterday it was taking legal action against India at the WTO over sugar subsidies it said caused a “significant downturn” in world prices and hurt domestic producers.

PNG paves way towards new natural gas project

PORT MORESBY (AFP) - Papua New Guinea yesterday signed a deal with energy giants Total and ExxonMobil on a proposed new project that would significantly boost the natural gas exports from the poor Pacific Island nation. The parties hope to fi

ECB sees ‘no reason’ for eurozone slowdown

FRANKFURT AM MAIN (AFP) - European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said yesterday he saw “no reason” why growth in the eurozone should wither, minimising a sharp slowdown in the third quarter. “There is certainly no reason why t

Leading chambers call for sensible actions to avert economic downfall

Four leading business chambers yesterday in a joint statement expressed their grave concern over the current political situation in the country, while condemning the behaviour of some of the elected

Rupee falls to record low on continued political uncertainty

REUTERS: The Sri Lankan rupee fell to an all-time low yesterday, continuing its record-setting spree, as political uncertainty outweighed the positive impact of a policy rate hike, sources said. Stocks closed firmer for a fourt

Aitken Spence Sept. net down 17% to Rs.484mn

The modest performance of the tourism segment despite higher tourist arrivals weighed in on Aitken Spence PLC’s bottom line despite the steady performance of the group’s key maritime and logistics and service sectors for the period ended September 30, 2018 

Sri Lanka highly vulnerable to tightening global financing conditions: Moody’s

Moody’s investor services placed Sri Lanka (B1 negative) among Maldives (B2 negative), Mongolia (B3 stable), and Pakistan (B3 negative), who are particularly vulnerable to tightening external fi