Worker remittance income dries up further in November

Contrary to repeated assurances by the authorities, worker remittance income fell further in November, continuing the declining streak for the seventh consecutive month.

GRI acquires Protyre in the Baltics

GRI recently acquired specialty tyre company Protyre in the Baltics. With the acquisition of Protyre in Estonia, and together with its previous acquisition of Nortire, GRI has now strengthened its position to service material handling, agriculture, and OEM customers throughout the Balics region.

Elevated prices to persist through next few months

Credit rating agency ICRA Lanka said consumer prices, which hit nearly a decade high last month, indicate that the economy might have entered an era of higher prices and the trend could persist in the next few months, proving that it is no longer transitory as repeatedly claimed by the Central Bankers.

November Purchasing Managers’ Index signals rapid economic expansion following easing of restrictions

The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for both manufacturing and services activities expanded in November, signalling recovery in economic activities, though risks remain from the evolving pandemic, high external indebtedness and soaring prices.

CALT share closes double the offer price on debut

The shares of Capital Alliance Limited (CALT) commenced trading on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) yesterday.

Vehicle importers call on government to regulate trade

The government was called on to regulate the importation of motor vehicles by the Vehicle Importers Association of Sri Lanka (VIASL), so that local consumers are safeguarded against “seasonal” importers and malpractices in the trade.

Co-operative Insurance set to open IPO on Dec. 20

Leading Sri Lankan insurer Co-operative Insurance recently announced the date of its initial public offering (IPO), which is set to take place on December 20, 2021.

Broad SOE reforms urged for SL to regain confidence of external creditors

With the government’s current approach appearing to be failing in its ability to meet upcoming external debt servicing commitments, the Colombo-based policy think tank Advocata Institute urged the government to roll out a broad reform package targeting ‘strategically important’ State

Foreign currency salary earners up in arms over conversions by banks

Sri Lanka’s service exporters, including resident Sri Lankans, who receive their earnings in foreign currencies through the banking channels, have started to protest against the conversions of their foreign currency earnings by banks, under the new export proceeds repatriation rules imposed by the Central Bank (CB).

Basil firm on strict austerity measures

Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa yesterday said the government wouldn’t soften the strict austerity measures announced in the Budget 2022, which includes a freeze on new public sector recruitments, and stressed that the government is in no position to loosen up these measures given the narrowing fiscal space.

Foreign reserves plummet to US $ 1.6bn

The foreign exchange reserves held by the Central Bank has touched a fresh low in November after continuously falling for last three months, on account of foreign currency obligations, which came up for retirement, stoking serious concerns over the ability of the country to ride over the foreign debt crisis without a hard landing of its economy. According to the latest o

Sri Lanka among most vulnerable to US Fed policy pivot

The Economist ranked the Sri Lankan economy among the most vulnerable nations to the change in monetary policy by the United States (US) Federal Reserve next year, a move which could tighten liquidity conditions for emerging markets and the broader developing world.

Seeking outside help on bended knees won’t solve SL’s debt woes: Cabraal

Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal sees a rare silver lining for the country to transform its external sector and the debt profile to a much resilient and sustainable position, with the unique approach taken by the government to emerge out of the current external sector crisis, instead of bending the knees to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Mix of strong-arm tactics and charm to restore worker remittance inflows

The Central Bank (CB) plans to restore official worker remittance inflows by clamping down on unofficial money transmission channels such as ‘Hawala’ and ‘Undiyal’ systems while offering a special incentive package to Sri Lankan expatriates to remit their foreign currency earnings through official channels.

Sri Lanka to capitalise on India’s Neighbourhood First policy to gain assistance

Capitalising on India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy, Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, during his recent visit to New Delhi, firmed up the need for cooperation in four key areas that would help the island ease the hiccups it faces at present.

Blockbuster Sept. earnings season comes to close

Bringing a blockbuster earnings season to a close, Sri Lanka’s listed companies have delivered robust earnings for the quarter ended in September 2021 indicating that big corporates have largely built resilience and have acclimatised with the new economic order characterised by intermittent restrictions and lockdowns.

CB expects to end 2021 with over US $ 3.5bn foreign reserves

The Central Bank says it would end the year with over US $ 3.5 billion in foreign exchange reserves, recouping from the recent depths they fell in September and October, as several bilateral funding lines are expected to be realised while the collections from non-debt-creating inflows from remittances and exports have seen a notable increase as of late.

Jan-Aug. deficit hits Rs.1.12tn as revenues undershoot budget

Sri Lanka’s fiscal deficit expanded to over Rs.1.12 trillion in the first eight months in 2021 compared to about Rs.975 billion in the same period last year, as the pandemic and its prolonged lockdowns deprived the government of its revenues, while its expenditure sored to contain the virus and support the affected.

SL’s worker remittance income predicted to fall to pre-COVID levels this year

The worker remittance inflows to Sri Lanka is estimated to decline by 6.2 percent year-on-year (YoY) to pre-pandemic levels of US $ 6.7 billion this year while the outlook for 2022 remains largely uncertain, according to the World Bank (WB).

SLT-Mobitel Customer Contact Centre - first in Asia to receive ISO 18295-1:2017 Certification

Reinforcing customer-centricity in providing excellent services, SLT-Mobitel Mobile has become the first in Asia to receive the international ISO 18295-1:2017 quality standard for its Customer Contact Centre (CCC) operations recently. Additionally, SLT-Mobitel was also awarded ISO 9001:2015 for demonstrated ability to meet customer, statutory and regulatory standards.

Dialog and Covergence.Tech extend verifiable digital education credentials

In yet another progressive step bringing about a giant leap within the Sri Lankan education domain and marking a first in the country, Dialog Enterprise introduced Convergence Tech Identity (CTI), a revolutionary digital education credentials service, in partnership with Convergence.Tech, the Canadian consulting and technology company working across Digital Transformation, Identity, Credentials, and Traceability.

Cabraal dismisses default talks saying provisions already made to retire 2022 foreign debt in full

Shrugging off concerns raised by certain parties in recent times over the country’s ability to meet its foreign currency debt obligations falling due next year, the Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal said the provisions had already been made and thus nobody should have any doubts over the country’s ability to service its debt.

National consensus mooted to overcome potential sovereign default

A national consensus backed by a common minimum programme, which should be implemented by an independent team of experts, is mooted for Sri Lanka to overcome a potential sovereign default next year.

CB holds policy rates steady to spur growth despite inflation worries

Capping weeks of expectations for a rate hike by certain quarters, the Central Bank decided to maintain the current monetary policy unchanged this week in a sign of bias towards supporting the recovery of the economy beset by the pandemic and told the current bout of inflation is, “transitory”.

New taxes in Budget 2022 could dent insurers’ near-term profitability: Fitch

Insurance companies could see some near-term pressure on their top lines and thereby their earnings, from the proposed new taxes on the corporates in Budget 2022 but they are unlikely to hurt their capitalisation levels, which strengthened during the pandemic, according to Fitch Ratings.

Ease in unemployment masks Sri Lanka’s shrinking labour force

While Sri Lanka had made progress in bringing its official jobless rate down, the issues facing the workers appear to run deeper as many who lost their employment due to the pandemic-induced economic restrictions appear to have given up looking for work, a segment, which isn’t captured in the official unemployment rate.

Prime lending rate breaches 8%; higher short-term rates likely

The weekly Averaged Weighted Prime Lending Rate (AWPLR) eclipsed the 8.0 percent level last week, signalling that the present upturn in the market lending rates has more room to run its course, on the back of the prolonged shortages in the rupee and dollar market liquidity and persistently higher prices.

Rubber sector not impressed with plan to ban rubber products imports

The proposed ban on importation of rubber-based products and the parallel promotion of investments into local production of rubber related finished goods may not yield the desired results as the country is already scrambling to meet the demand for natural rubber needed to power its existing value addition industries, according to an industrialist.

Export income surges in Oct. as Western markets open

Sri Lanka’s sector recorded an all-time high earning for any October in the country’s export history, with October 2021 fetching a revenue of US $ 1.16 billion.

Budget wants single-digit interest rates to stay as fiscal and monetary policies dovetail

In an apparent attempt taken at dovetailing the fiscal policy for next year with the monetary policy, which is increasingly getting skewed towards more tightening with foreign exchange challenges and inflationary pressures, the budget presented last week aims at supporting the interest rates at single digit levels.