BOI, EDB, Business France enter into tripartite agreement to promote trade and investment

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Board of Investment (BOI), Export Development Board (EDB) and Business France yesterday to enhance cooperation, trade 

Inconsistent tax policies seen as major constraint in attracting FDIs

Inconsistencies in Sri Lanka’s taxation policy during the last 4-6 years have created a significant impact on attracting new investments to the country, Sri Lanka’s largest foreign direct 

US firms here concerned by policy instability, report says

Sri Lanka scores low on providing a conducive business environment for US companies operating in the country owing to policy instability while conditions for attracting For

Tea Board to test all teas at tea auction for sugar

The country’s tea industry regulator, the Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB), has decided to conduct tests on all teas coming into the Colombo Tea Auction, to ensure the quality of Ceylon Tea and 

Sri Lanka climbs two places in latest innovation rankings

Sri Lanka has made two-position improvement in the 2018 innovation rankings as the country made some limited progress in general infrastructure, ecological sustainability and knowledge and technology outputs, supporting such innovation. 

Worker remittances rebound; tourism earnings remain strong during 5 months

The worker remittances to Sri Lanka rebounded during the first five months, while the earnings from tourism continued to grow, as the two current account flows gave some respite to the country’s worsening external account track record in recent months. 

Shares end firmer as investors buy select blue chips

(Colombo) REUTERS: Sri Lankan shares closed firmer yesterday as investors bought beaten-down blue chips, while many market participants remained on the sidelines due to a lack of bullish news amid concerns over political uncertainty, stockbrokers said.

CB warns against dollar hoarding as rupee falls

(Colombo) REUTERS: Sri Lanka’s Central Bank is concerned about the dollar hoarding and market manipulation that’s exacerbating the rupee’s weakness and has the tools to correct any misalignment in the exchange rate, its governor told Reuters.

HSBC says multilateral trading system would survive US-China trade war

HSBC, the market leader in global trade finance, expressed confidence that the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) rule-based multilateral trading system is likely to survive the current trade war between the US and China with some changes. 

Fixing Sri Lanka’s labour market: Comparative lessons

The recently published ‘Sri Lanka Development Update 2018’ by the World Bank focuses on creating more and better jobs for an upper-middle-income Sri Lanka. It usefully analyses the state of Sri Lanka’s labour market and identifies the challenges to attaining this development goal. 

Asia after liberal international order

With the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States, the West suddenly woke up with an acute anxiety about the fate of the US-led liberal international order. Until then, the liberal establishment in the United States had assumed that Hillary Clinton would succeed Barack Obama as president and ensure continuity in the liberal order. They ignored or dismissed warnings about the order’s crisis and decline. The belief in the re

Colombo needs better managed parking

Colombo is in need of better managed parking as the city continues to grapple with congestion on the streets.

Payback time

The owners of a company from Old Blighty are an annoyed lot. The approvals for their projects have been hard to come by despite the greasing they have done.  

Ministering types 

There are essentially two types of ministering types in this country according to a distinguished policy maker. He gives the best type answers over his phone and knows clearly his office is temporary in nature and therefore he needs to be with his people.

Fresh face

A survey done by a paradise non-profit type we hear is very revealing. The majority of the millennial types want a non-political type to come up and emulate Macron of French fame.  

Lost billions

The paradise stock market has a taken heavy beating that is unimaginable in an administration led by the green types.    

Tussle

A big corporation under a VVIP is going nowhere. The latest we hear is that the board had been asked to resign with immediate effect, 

Central Bank tells Swarnamahal Finance to immediately pay 10% of deposit liabilities

Upon the requests of depositors, the Central Bank yesterday said it instructed Swarnamahal Financial Services PLC (SFS) to urgently pay 10 percent of deposit liabilities commencing July 10 (yesterday). Both SFS and its parent, ETI Finance Ltd., have run into difficulties and currently operate under the supervision of the Central Bank.

Singapore’s Lazard and MTI to advise government on Hilton, Grand Hyatt sales

The government has selected Singapore-based Lazard Asia Limited and Sri Lanka’s MTI Consulting to advise on the sale of the government ownership in Hilton and Grand Hyatt Hotels.

Sri Lanka may get Chinese-funded convention centre to host BRI events

Sri Lanka may get its largest convention centre through Chinese investments, which would potentially become one of the main platforms to host Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) related events.

Shares end steady; turnover at near 3-month low

(Colombo) REUTERS: Sri Lankan shares closed steady yesterday, while the turnover slumped to a near three-month low as many investors remained on the sidelines due to a lack of bullish news amid concerns over political uncertainty, stockbrokers said.

Rupee ends steady after 6 sessions of decline

(Colombo) REUTERS: The Sri Lankan rupee closed steady yesterday after six straight sessions of decline, as importer dollar demand offset mild exporter dollar sales, traders said.

Declining ethics, morals blamed for businesses going behind politicos

The decline of ethics and morals in Sri Lanka’s business community has led businesses to heavily depend on excessive lobbying to politicians to gain “favour and unfair advantage” over the competitors, a leading shipping and logistics industry figure lamented. 

Apparel exports pick up pace in May

Sri Lanka’s apparel exports rebounded in May with a 9.3 percent year-on-year (YoY) growth to achieve US $ 415 million in export earnings, which is also the highest growth rate recorded so far for this year, as Europe entered the summer season, the latest apparel export data released by the Joint Apparel Association Forum indicated.

CB says long-delayed EPF, ETF annual reports to be released soon

The much-delayed annual reports of the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) and Employees’ Trust Fund (ETF), which have been finalised now, would be released shortly Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy said. 

Global stocks rally continues apace

AFP: A global stocks rally took root yesterday after strong US jobs data and despite Brexit uncertainty that boosted the pound.

Parliamentarians Act: Step it up for gender equality, deliver on 2030 Agenda

‘Step it up for gender equality’ was one among the many commitments renewed at the third South Asian Speakers Summit on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) implementation, convened by the International Parliamentary Union and Sri Lanka’s Parliament in Colombo, July 11-12, 2018.  

Rupee extends fall for 6th straight session

(Colombo) REUTERS: The Sri Lankan rupee fell for a sixth straight session yesterday on importer dollar demand and further weakness was expected in the currency, traders said.

National Export Strategy gets Cabinet approval

Sri Lanka’s Cabinet of Ministers has approved the National Export Strategy (NES)—a five-year strategy aimed at increasing exports and generating enhanced revenue for Sri Lanka’s small and medium enterprises and exporters, a communiqué by the Export Development Board (EDB) said.  The EDB, Sri Lanka’s apex body for export promotion, said the implementation of the NES would increase Sri Lanka’s export revenu

Think tank urges govt. simplify export registration process

ECONOMYNEXT: Sri Lanka’s government has been urged to simplify the process for registering exporters to make it more effective, as the present system is seen as too cumbersome and time-consuming and open to abuse.