Construction sector falls to fresh lows in 4Q22

The once brisk construction sector fell to new lows in the final three months of last year, extending the contraction in the sector to its sixth straight quarter reflecting the extent of its struggle. According....

Local marketers confident in fixing Sri Lanka’s falling brand

Sri Lanka is in dire need to correct its image in the eyes of the international community, given the negative sentiments that are still largely prevalent, as stepping up efforts in this regard is the marketing fraternity of the country.

Proposed CB law will pave way for unpopular but essential decisions

The new Monetary Law Act, which aims to grant independence to the Central Bank with enhanced accountability, will empower the monetary authority to make unpopular but essential decisions in prioritising price stability in the country under a flexible inflation target framework, a top official said.

Tea exports decline for second straight month

Sri Lanka’s tea exports declined for the second consecutive month in February.

President assures transparent, fair debt restructuring effort

In an open letter to Sri Lanka’s official bilateral creditors, President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday assured that safeguards will be put in place to ensure equitable burden sharing and comparability of treatment.

Shipping industry seeks presidential intervention on regulation changes

While seeking presidential intervention, the Sri Lanka Shippers’ Council (SLSC) warned that the recent decision by Ports, Shipping and Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva to remove the regulations on freight charges is likely to hurt the competitiveness of Sri Lanka’s exports and result in higher import costs, fuelling inflation.

Rupee appreciation affects Colombo Tea Auction negatively

The Colombo Tea Auction yesterday saw a mini storm brewing as substantial quantities went unsold amid the sharp appreciation of the rupee against the US dollar.

New anti-corruption law in Parliament soon as IMF considers Sri Lanka’s loan

The government will bring in an anti-corruption bill to Parliament shortly, as agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) when entering a staff-level agreement last September, Cabinet Spokesperson Minister Bandula Gunawardana said.

Sri Lanka signs Letter of Intent to secure IMF loan

President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday said Sri Lanka signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) on Monday night to be presented to the Executive Board.....

Faster decline in inflation likely due to rupee appreciation

The Central Bank last Friday projected a faster decline in the rate of inflation in the coming months, as businesses and households will benefit from the relative strength in the rupee in recent times, which gets translated into lower imported goods prices.

CB delivers 100bps surprise rate hike on IMF insistence

Taking everyone by surprise, the Monetary Board of the Central Bank yesterday raised the policy interest rates by 100 basis points, though many predicted the monetary authority to either maintain the status quo or signal a dovish tilt by cutting rates.

Bets divided equally between a rate cut and maintaining tight policy

The analysts at First Capital Research (FCR) assigned equal weightage between a rate cut and an unchanged policy stance at the upcoming monetary policy announcement tomorrow afternoon but they doubled down on their bets on a dovish tilt by the members of the rate setting committee at the next review, with a sizable rate cut in the second quarter.

Rupee appreciates after almost a year into free float

Sri Lankan rupee appreciated yesterday on improved sentiments over the current and future foreign exchange conditions in the domestic market after the announcement that International Finance Corporation (IFC) is willing to provide US$ 400 million worth of swap facility for three commercial banks to support essential imports.

World Bank’s IFC extends US $ 400mn financing to three Sri Lankan banks

To support Sri Lanka amid an ongoing economic crisis, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the investment arm of the World Bank, is providing a cross-currency swap facility to three of Sri Lanka’s leading national banks that deal with over 30 percent of Sri Lanka’s remittances and exports.

IMF chief stresses need for new debt process for countries like Sri Lanka

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has stressed the need for a more predictable, timely, and orderly process for both countries....

Govt. settles Rs.191bn worth of arrears to various contractors and suppliers

The government has settled the majority of the arrears to the tune of Rs.191 billion to contractors and suppliers, after assuming power on August 31, last year, despite an 8 percent contraction in the economy during the year, Finance State Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said.

Ranil tells economy his top priority; says there’s no election to postpone

President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday told parliament that his top priority is building a strong economy and not politics, though the Opposition political parties directly accused him of trying to postpone an election that has already been announced.

‘So Sri Lanka’ tourism tagline to go

As Sri Lanka is looking to bring about a renewed brand identity that will help it capture a bigger share of the global tourism market, plans are afoot to do away with the ‘So Sri Lanka’ tagline.

Prez says SL completed all 15 tasks required for bailout, now up to IMF

After months of struggle and challenges, Sri Lanka has been successful in fulfilling the 15 tasks set by the International Monetary Fund....

Electricity tariff hike threatens to burn a hole in Ceylon Tea cup

The tea sector yesterday joined the chorus in warning about the potential consequences of failing to control the situation after a 66 percent increase in electricity prices that went into effect last week.

Dipped Products to launch Rs.1bn sports glove production facility

After over two years of product development, Dipped Product PLC plans to launch its dedicated LEED certified manufacturing facility for sports gloves in Biyagama Export Processing Zone this April....

President gives fresh hopes, says SL will secure IMF relief package soon

President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday gave fresh hopes to the nation, as he shared that the answers to the woes faced by the people would be unlocked before the end of the first quarter of the year.

Latest electricity tariff hike sends shock waves through Sri Lanka

The move by Sri Lanka’s electricity regulator to approve another tariff hike sent shockwaves across the island nation yesterday, not sparing even the country’s largest gross export earner, the apparel sector.

No immediate plans to sell ECT: Ports Minister

Contradicting with the earlier plans to handover the East Container Terminal (ECT) to Japan, Ports, Shipping and Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva hinted that the government plans to retain the control of the ECT of the Port of Colombo while inviting the private sector to invest in the proposed Colombo North Port development project.

Cabinet gives green light for new Central Bank law

The Cabinet greenlight has been granted for the draft Monetary Law Act to be published in the government gazette and thereafter to be tabled it in parliament, which is a key prior action required by the International....

Sale of SOEs presents best option for Sri Lanka to avert potential DDR

The disposal of the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) presents the best option for Sri Lanka to avert a possible domestic debt restructuring (DDR) scenario, while it could become a catalyst to develop a vibrant capital market to exploit the current market opportunities, where the investors are rallying back to emerging and frontier markets.

Tourism off to encouraging start as January income tops US$ 160mn

Earnings from tourism trade continued its months-long ascent in tandem with the encouraging arrival numbers, which topped over 100,000 in January, a feat which became possible after almost a year.

Financing assurances obtained by SL thus far inadequate to proceed with EFF: IMF

With the dawn of the new year, Sri Lanka made significant progress in obtaining financing assurances from its creditors to help unlock the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout package; however, according to the multilateral funding agency, what the island nation has managed to bag so far is not enough.

SL still has US$ 3.2bn in external debt to settle this year despite standstill

Sri Lanka appears to be still having roughly US$ 3.2 billion worth foreign currency obligations to be settled this year even after announcing a debt standstill on selective debt last year until creditors agree to restructure them.

President lays out economic blueprint for Sri Lanka premised on IMF reform path

President Ranil Wickremesinghe made his second throne speech in Parliament yesterday to reinforce his blueprint to put the economic back on track and made clear that his government has no role in private businesses except for creating a conducive environment for the private sector to drive the economy.