Rupee hits record low on importer dollar demand

COLOMBO (Reuters) - The Sri Lankan rupee hit a record low for a third straight session yesterday due to dollar demand from importers and foreign banks amid outflows from govern

SriLankan named most punctual global airline in September

SriLankan has achieved the remarkable feat of being named the world’s most punctual airline in the month of September 2018 in the key categories of ‘Global Airlines’ and ‘Major Airlines’, by the flight data analysis company Flightstats.com.

Marmite maker Unilever axes move from London to Rotterdam

THE HAGUE (AFP) - Anglo-Dutch consumer giant Unilever, maker of iconic products like Marmite, yesterday ditched its post-Brexit plan to move its main headquarters from London to Rotterdam after a revolt by shareholders.

Toyota announces new recall of 2.4 million hybrid cars

TOKYO (AFP) -  Japanese car giant Toyota said yesterday it is recalling more than 2.4 million hybrid cars over a fault that could cause crashes, just a month after another recall affecting hybrids.

Melstacorp eyeing healthcare and non-alcobev acquisitions

Diversified conglomerate, Melstacorp PLC could be looking to acquire targets as the group sits on a large cash pile while generating a robust free cash flow, and its current debt stays conveniently serviceable, says Fitch Ratings.  

Improved Qatar visa process for migrant workers

The Government of Qatar will soon be simplifying the migrant work visa application process that will expedite the visa processing for Sri Lankan migrant workers.  This service, which will first be introduced in Sri Lanka and then rolled out in other key South Asian cities, will be made available through Qatar Visa Centres, which is directly supervised by the Q

Unilever, UNGC and UNDP convene 2nd Annual PPP Forum in Colombo

Unilever Sri Lanka together with the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Sri Lanka and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) convened the second Annual Private-Public Partnership (PPP) Forum in Colombo recently. 

September tourist arrivals up 2.8%

Tourist arrivals grew only 2.8 percent to 149, 087 in September, the lowest growth recorded so far this year, amid a sizeable drop in tourists from Middle East, the data released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) showed.

Brand new car importers call for registration of vehicle importers

The Ceylon Motor Traders Association (CMTA), an industry Association consisting of local agents for global automotive manufacturers, yesterday proposed to the government to implement a scheme to re

Sri Lanka to liberalise multi-country consolidation operations shortly

The Ministry of Finance and Mass Media is likely to issue a gazette shortly opening up the less than container load (LCL) business, allowing multi-country consolidation (MCC) and entrepot trade to all players, which is seen as a vital step towards the realisation of Sri Lanka’s aspiration to become a maritime hub in the Indian Ocean. 

Rupee hits record low on importer dollar demand; stocks extend gains

(Colombo) REUTERS: The Sri Lankan rupee hit a record low for a second straight session yesterday due to dollar demand from importers and foreign banks amid outflows from government securities, while stocks rose for a second consecutive session.

Laugfs Gas to begin commercial operations of LPG storage terminal at Hambantota port next month

Laugfs Gas, a pioneer in Sri Lanka’s power and energy sector, is set to open its LPG storage complex established at the Hambantota port for commercial operations this November.

Govt. allocates highest amount in history for debt repayment in 2019

The government has allocated little over Rs.2,057 billion for debt servicing in 2019—the highest amount allocated from a budget in the history of Sri Lanka.

CB plans sovereign bond issue this year

Sri Lanka may go for an International Sovereign Bond (ISB) issue before the end of this year on top of the plans to raise US $ 500 million through Panda and Samurai bonds.

US bond yield curve: Should we worry if it inverts?

In global economic growth, divergence across economies is widening. The US keeps posting robust expansion, with a whopping 4.2 percent of annualized quarter-on-quarter growth in 2Q 2018, the fastest since 3Q 2014. While Japan’s expansion picked up further in 2Q, the European Union’s was lacklustre, losing some of the steam gained from 2017. 

Demand growth and urbanisation fuel Sri Lanka’s retail sector

The rising demand and an accelerating population shift to major urban centres are driving activity in Sri Lanka’s retail sector, with a series of large-scale developments to launch in the coming months; however, the recent pressures on domestic spending power could curb the sales in the shorter term.

EPF to only invest in shares approved by Monetary Board

As the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) prepares for its re-entry into the country’s stock market, they would most likely to be “conservative” in their investment approach and invest only in shares of a list that is currently being prepared.

Rupee hits all-time low; stocks recover

(Colombo) REUTERS: The Sri Lankan rupee hit a fresh low yesterday due to dollar demand from importers and foreign banks amid outflows from 

LOLC group entities to delist shares; list debt securities to remain in bourse

Three LOLC group companies have decided to pull out their shares from the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) as they failed to meet the minimum public holding requirement.

EPF to only invest in “list of shares” approved by Monetary Board

As the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) prepares for its re-entry into the country’s stock market, they would most likely to be “conservative” in its investment approach and invest only in shares of a “list” that is currently being prepared.

Emerging market rout prompts Sampath Bank to suspend bond issue

Sampath Bank PLC yesterday said it decided to suspend its planned dollar bond issue quoted in the Singapore Exchange as the unfriendly international capital market conditions have prompted the issuer to rethink about the timing of the issue.  

EU says “time is ripe” for SL to implement logistic sector reforms

Sri Lanka’s snail-paced efforts towards reforms in the maritime and logistics space was frowned upon by the Europe Union (EU) yesterday, pointing out that “the time is ripe to accelerate structural and regulatory reform” in the island nation. As the country continues to harp o

Central Bank says hopeful of 4% growth this year

Sri Lanka’s Central Bank is hopeful that the island nation’s US $87 billion economy would grow at least 4 percent this year, despite both International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) revising down their growth forecasts to 3.8 percent recently. Sri Lanka’s eco

Bank credit accelerates in August despite tight market conditions

The growth in bank credit accelerated in August despite the tight credit and money conditions and rising non-performing loans in the  banking sector. 

Dollar rally hurting Sri Lanka and other emerging markets

The Sri Lankan Rupee in the last eight weeks has taken a beating like many other Asian currencies as a result of the dollar rally.  The government rightly pointed out that many of the other currencies had taken a bigger beating. This week the rupee hit a fresh low of 169.05 on Wednesday on importer dollar demand, intervention by the Central Bank limited the fall.

Joint marketing strategy needed to boost tourism, exports: Navin

Plantation Industries Minister Navin Dissanayake has called for a joint marketing strategy to promote Sri Lanka or the Ceylon brand to market the country’s exports and tourism products, pointing out that the individual marketing campaigns are less effective to compete with the top  global brands. 

Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy appointed to JKH board

John Keells Holdings PLC (JKH) yesterday announced the appointment of Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy to its board as an Independent Non-Executive Director with effect from October  1, 2018.

Plantation sector wage negotiations still in deadlock

The regional plantation companies (RPC) and plantation trade unions are in deadlock over the terms for a fresh collective agreement on wages, as the trade unions haven’t agreed to the offer made by the RPCs.

Indo-Pacific big enough for both China and India

In a move that heralds greater bilateral cooperation, Chinese Defence Minister Lieutenant General Wei Fenghe paid his first visit to India in  August 2018. 

Rupee extends recovery ahead of rate decision; stocks down

(Colombo) REUTERS: The Sri Lankan rupee closed firmer yesterday, further recovering from a record low touched last week as banks sold dollars ahead of the Central Bank’s monetary policy meeting while shares fell for a third straight session to hit a four-and-a-half-year low amid foreign outflows.