April tourist arrivals up 14.7%

Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka increased by 14.7 percent year-on-year (YoY) to 79,829 during the month of April.

Natural Rubber future appears uncertain

NR market’s slow growth in recent times, after the unrealistic boom in the beginning of this decade, is mainly due to a lull in demand across the globe. The issue is whether NR prices will bounce back or will continue to be very volatile.

US research study spells boom for Lanka’s cinnamon industry

Results of a scientific research study just released in the US and publicized by news media worldwide present a game-changing bonanza for Sri Lanka’s cinnamon industry needs.

South Asians rely on informal money transfers: Study

PTI: Nearly 800 million South Asians and Indonesians sent or received a payment or remittance last year with a majority of them doing so informally, according to a new Gallup study.

Achieving faster progress in education and health

Economic growth is front-page news everywhere. But experience tells us that the link between income and human development is far from assured. Worldwide, countries with similar per capita incomes have had quite different achievements in basic education or basic health.

NDB poised to take on growth opportunities and support emerging entrepreneurs: Official

Following are the excerpts of an exclusive interview Daily Mirror had with NDB Vice President and Head of Corporate Banking Buwanekabahu Perera.

Sampath Bank plans aggressive market share expansion with e-remittance facility

Sampath Bank plans to aggressively expand market share with its e-remittance facility, having already gathered significant momentum through the course of last year, according to the bank’s Marketing and Business Development Deputy General Manager Tharaka Ranwala.

Step-by-step guide to invest in stock market

The fundamentals of world economics have shifted from commodity markets to financial markets. Hence, financial markets play a pivotal role in wealth creation, economic development and economic equality.

Challenging the process: Stepping into the unknown

George Bernard Shaw once said, “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

Dialog Axiata bags Sri Lankan Cricket sponsorship

Dialog Axiata PLC, a unit of Malaysia's Axiata group has clinched the sponsorship deal for Sri Lanka Cricket at a sum of Rs.753.9 million+ taxes, a stock exchange filing by Sri Lanka's largest mobile services provider said.

Sri Lanka on track to achieve MDGs: ADB

With 2 years to go for the 2015 Millennium Development Goal (MDG) deadline, Sri Lanka appears to have made notable progress in many fronts, particularly in areas of achieving universal primary education enrollment and water supply & basic sanitation (WSS), Asian Development Bank (ADB) showed.

New Xbox One unveiled as home entertainment hub

Microsoft on Tuesday staked a claim to the Internet Age living room with an eagerly awaited new generation Xbox...

Local construction industry calls to trim foreign presence

Sri Lanka’s construction sector professionals recently called to cut down the number of foreign consultants, contractors and labourers employed in mega infrastructure projects taking place in the country, stressing the practice has proved detrimental to the local construction industry.

SLT’s superfast Internet goes live

Celebrating the ‘World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) last week, the national telecommunication service provider – Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) announced the soft launch of its Very-High-Bit-Rate Digital Subscriber Line 2 (VDSL2) advanced fixed broadband technology.

Flydubai begins Mattala services

The Dubai-based budget carrier Flydubai officially launched its services to Sri Lanka’s second international airport in Mattala yesterday.

Make the Change- Agile Human Resource Management

Adaptability and Responsiveness is a highly acclaimed characteristic in business world.  Changing customer needs and mounting competition can only be won by managerswho can lead their workers to respond the changers in an agile manner.

Biodiversity for sustainable development: Sri Lankan perspective

There is growing recognition of the fact that biological resources and diversity are vital to humankind’s economic and social development. It is accepted that diversity is a global asset of tremendous value, and that it needs to be preserved for future generations.

CICT receives first vessel carrying equipment

Colombo International Container Ter minal (CICT), which is developed under the South Harbour Terminal project received its first vessel on May 20, carrying on board 3 gantry cranes and 10 rubber tire gantry cranes to be installed at the CICT.

SL'S public investments, FDIs lagging behind peers

Despite government investments in the economy increasing as a percentage of GDP as well as in absolute terms during 2012, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) points out that Sri Lanka’s public investment is low compared to countries that have experienced sustained high growth.

New CEO at MillenniumIT

Mack Gill has been appointed the new CEO of MillenniumIT, a unit of diversified international exchange business of London Stock Exchange Group.

Electricity protests: Losing trust and unplugging the refrigerator

Matthew Arnold’s famous poem, Dover Beach, ends with a rather despairing couplet, “Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, / Where ignorant armies clash by night.”

No end to poverty without better governance

In April the World Bank governors endorsed two historic goals: to end extreme poverty by 2030 and to ensure that prosperity is shared. It will take a lot to end poverty: strong growth, more infrastructure investments, increased agricultural productivity, better business environments, jobs, good education, and quality health care.

Hard choices countries have to make

Some time back I attended a London Business School (LBS) Management Lab session, where the topic for discussion was, why some countries manage to achieve economic prosperity that helps them to escape the perils of poverty, while many other countries fail in this respect and continue to be trapped in poverty.

Over Rs.1bn foreign buying at CSE; total inflows top Rs.12.5bn

The Colombo bourse saw foreigners snatching shares worth of Rs.1.09 billion yesterday, recording the highest net foreign inflow figure in nearly 2.5 months (after March 7)

Short term T-bill yields flat; long term edge up

Treasury bill yields remained more or less flat at the second T-bill issue after the policy rate cut by the Central Bank with 12-month bill yields edging up 2 basis points

UK firm secures £35mn Lankan bridge deal

A Darlington firm has signed a £35 million contract to build hundreds of road bridges in Sri Lanka, BBC reported. Cleveland Bridge will design and build the structures in jungle and rural areas of the country

SL’s Singer raises Rs.1.5bn in debt securities

The Rs.1.5 billion debenture issue by Singer (Sri Lanka) PLC has been oversubscribed and issue will close at 4.30 pm today as per the Prospectus

Sri Lanka’s Indian oil unit records profits

A substantial decrease in finance costs enabled Lanka IOC PLC (LIOC) to post a net profit of Rs.805.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2013 (4Q12) as against Rs.42.6 million during the corresponding period of the previous year, interim financials released to the Colombo Stock Exchange revealed

Economic growth leaves behind Lankan poor

Despite generally stronger economic growth achieved by Sri Lanka during the recent past, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) claims that the growth has failed to reduce poverty at a similar pace, particularly in less - developed provinces.

StanChart sees no room for further monetary easing

Issuing an Economic Alert, Standard Chartered said that they did not see space for further easing in monetary policy, given the inflation risks remaining high. The bank thus expects the current rates to remain stable at least until 1Q’ 2014.