China leads Asian sell-off as fears grow over global economy

HONG KONG (AFP) - Fresh fears over headwinds facing the global economy saw Asian stocks plunge into the red yesterday, in light holiday trading after US markets were closed for Thanksgiving.

S. Africa plans US$1bn investment in S. Sudan oil industry

JUBA (AFP) - South Africa and South Sudan signed an outline agreement yesterday that could see Pretoria invest around US$1 billion (880 million euros) in South Sudan’s struggling oil industry. The agreement, whic

Soaring trade restrictions spark ‘serious concern’: WTO

GENEVA (AFP) - The world’s biggest economies slapped import restrictions on nearly half a trillion dollars’ worth of trade over the past six months, the World Trade Organization said this week voicing “serious concern”. Forty new import barriers were erect

Rupee hits record low on Moody’s downgrade, political uncertainty

REUTERS - The Sri Lankan rupee fell to an all-time low of 179.95 per dollar yesterday, as Moody’s downgrade of the country’s credit rating in the wake of a political crisis saw more investors dump rupee

Finance Ministry allays loan default fears

The Finance and Economic Affairs Ministry has assured lenders that Sri Lanka will honour its dues during the financial year beginning from January 1, 2019, despite the current political impasse triggered by the sacking of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe by President Maithripala Sirisena on October 26. The situation worsened by the subsequent dissolution of the Parliament by President Sirisena, which is now being challenged at the country&rsqu

Trading on disaster recovery site today

The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) is to conduct a planned full-day of trading from the disaster recovery site using ATS Version 7 Disaster Recovery Solution today.  The CSE in a brief statement said the exercise will be an industry-wide activity with the participation of all stakeholders to ensure the preparedness of all participants to meet the recovery needs of the industry, as a part of the Annual Business Continuity Planning (BCP) process

Sri Lanka holds sovereign bond issues after downgrade

(Colombo) AFP: Sri Lanka has abandoned plans to raise money through sovereign bonds and will pursue badly-needed revenue elsewhere after Moody’s downgraded its credit rating amid political turmoil, an official said yesterday. President Maithripala Sirisena’s economic advisor said “alternative finance” raised locally would service much of Sri Lanka’s US$ 4.5 billion in foreign debt repayments in 2019.

Greenhouse gas levels in atmosphere hit new high: United Nations

(Geneva) AFP: The levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the main driver of climate change, have hit a new record high, the UN said yesterday, warning that the time to act was running out. Ahead of the COP 24 Climate 

Nissan board votes to oust Ghosn as chairman

(Tokyo) REUTERS: Nissan Motor’s board voted yesterday to oust Carlos Ghosn from his post as chairman following his shock arrest this week, public broadcaster NHK reported, marking the 

October national inflation decelerates on base effect; core inflation up

Sri Lanka’s nationwide inflation measured by the year-on-year (YoY) change in the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) in October decelerated to 0.1 percent— the lowest point since Jan

Three large banks downgraded after sovereign rating cut

A day after the country rating was downgraded, Moody’s Investors Service (Moody’s) yesterday downgraded the long-term ratings of three large banks in line with the sovereign rating over challenging operating conditions, exacerbated by the current political deadlock.    

BOI signs US$ 60.86mn worth investment agreements

The Board of Investment (BOI) yesterday announced that it has signed US $60.86 million worth investment agreements with local and foreign investors in apparel, logistics, plant tissue culture and packaging sectors.  

Rupee hits record low after Moody’s downgrade, IMF loan delay

(Colombo) REUTERS: The Sri Lankan rupee fell to an all-time low of 179.00 per dollar yesterday, a day after Moody’s downgraded the country’s credit rating, as a political crisis worsens a rout in the currency.  

IMF delays Sri Lanka’s loan discussion on political crisis

(Colombo) REUTERS: The Internationa l Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday it had delayed discussions on Sri Lanka’s next loan tranche due to the country’s political crisis.  

CB hits back at Moody’s; calls rating downgrade unwarranted and unjustifiable

The Central Bank yesterday hit back at Moody’s Investors Service over the recent credit rating downgrade, stating that the rating agency’s decision is unwarranted and unjustifiable as it is purely based on heightened political uncertainty, with no evidence of slippages in macroeconomic policies.

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