Monetary Board to probe EPF’s G-sec dealings

The Monetary Board of the Central Bank yesterday announced that an internal inquiry is underway to look into the transactions made by the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) in government securities (G-sec) during 2015 and 2016.

National inflation in Dec. accelerates to 4.2%

Inflation, as measured by the change in the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI), which is compiled by the Census and Statistics Department, increased marginally to 4.2 percent in December 2016 from 4.1 percent in November 2016, on an year-on-year (YoY) basis. 

Airtel to invest more in networks and capacity building in Sri Lanka

Bharti Airtel, the Indian mobile network operator said that they will continue to invest in networks and capacity building in Sri Lanka, and expressed its commitment to empower the youth in Sri Lanka, at their eighth anniversary celebration held in Colombo last week.

OPPO honoured by IDG as 2016-2017 top global smartphone brand

OPPO which has been making great strides in Sri Lanka lately, won two honours from International Data Group (IDG) at a ceremony hosted on Jan. 6 as part of Las Vegas’ annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES). 

Dantanarayana appointed Country Sales Head for Hitachi Data Systems

Hitachi Data Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. announced the appointment of Milan Dantanarayana as Country Sales Head for Sri Lanka. 

Oracle Cloud Platform backs high-performance applications

Continuing its rich history of delivering game-changing cloud services, Oracle unveiled new enhancements to the Oracle Cloud Platform, making it even more compelling for customers to move business-critical applications to the cloud. 

Orient Finance gets shareholder nod to raise Rs.400mn via rights issue

The shareholders approved a move by Orient Finance PLC, a Janashakthi group subsidiary, to raise up to Rs.400 million via a rights issue to strengthen its Tier II capital, during an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) held yesterday. 

President Trump and getting on the front foot in Asia

The inauguration of the 45th US President, Donald Trump, is a game-changer and the fallout threatens Asian interests perhaps more than those in any other part of the world.

What we need to do to ensure FTAs don’t go begging

At the World Economic Forum in Switzerland Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe stated that Sri Lanka would soon have access to four major markets. He requested local and international investors start ventures in Sri Lanka. The proposed free trade arrangements (FTA) with India, China and Singapore would potentially give investors access to three billion people. 

Support for agriculture – A great opportunity

A news item (Island, January 19) gave the welcome news that the World Bank has signed a credit line to provide Sri Lanka with US $ 125 million to make the sector “more efficient and attractive, more responsive to consumer demand and more environmentally sustainable and resilient to climate change”.

Prof. Hausmann highlights importance of technology for economic development

Prof. Ricardo Hausmann of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, who visited Sri Lanka to follow-up on a programme to build capacity among senior officials at the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka, the Export Development Board and Tourism Authority, held a lecture at the BMICH recently.  

World Economic Forum interested in holding summit here: minister

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has expressed its interest in exploring the possibility of holding an economic summit in Sri Lanka in 2018, Digital Technology Development Minister Harin Fernando said yesterday. 

Bloomberg ranks Sri Lanka among highest risk countries for investors

Sri Lanka has been ranked among the highest risk countries in the world for investors by Bloomberg, which analysed as many as 29 indicators covering financial, economic and political risks. 

Local civil society orgs facing funding and staffing issues: report

The local civil society organisations (CSOs), which were pivotal in ousting the Rajapaksa regime, are facing constraints on both funding and staffing compared to their international counterparts operating in Sri Lanka, the Civil Society Organisation Sustainability Index for 2015 revealed.

John Keells tea unit returns to profitability in December

A unit of the John Keells group, Tea Smallholder Factories PLC (TSML), posted a net profit of Rs.25.89 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2016 (3Q16), against a net loss of Rs.522,000 from an year ago, the interim financial accounts showed.

EIB confirms EUR 50mn backing for Colombo water network

Affirming the Finance Ministry’s announcement on Sunday, the European Investment Bank (EIB) yesterday said it would provide 50 million euros to support improvement and expansion of sewage networks across Colombo. 

Sri Lanka returns to Spanish market after a decade

Sri Lanka made a significant impact at the 37th International Tourism Trade Fair (FITUR)  in Madrid, Spain from January 18 to 22.  

ComBank’s ‘Arunalu’ launches country-wide children’s art competition

Art enables children to express themselves on virtually anything that interests them, and the Commercial Bank of Ceylon has launched an island-wide competition to stimulate such expression by the country’s young artists.

Pan Asia Bank provides easy access to housing loans

In a bid to meet the rapidly increasing demand and varying requirements of customers, Pan Asia Bank, has been augmenting its popular housing loan product ‘Nivasa’ with a host of value -added features. 

Bank of Ceylon achieves a trillion hat-trick

The Bank of Ceylon scored its third ‘trillion’ at the end of the year 2016. That is surpassing the Rs. 1 trillion mark in advances- another unique milestone in its 77-yearjourney as the bankers to the nation and becoming the first, and up to now the only bank to pass this milestone in Sri Lanka. 

Sri Lanka to launch first insurance comparison website ‘InsureMe.lk’

InsureMe Insurance Brokers (Pvt) Limited will be launching Sri Lanka’s first Insurance comparison website within the next few days. 

Renuka City Hotel honours and rewards long-serving employees

Renuka City Hotel recently honoured 46 of its longest serving staff members at a felicitation ceremony held at the hotel. 

Arpico honours top sales professionals in manufacturing and distribution sector

Richard Pieris & Co PLC honoured its top sales professionals and distributors in the local manufacturing and distribution sector for the year 2015/16 at a award ceremony held at the Grandeeza Hotel,

FMJ Holdings’ outward-bound training ends on high note

On December 12th, the FMJ Holdings Group facilitated their entire staff with an out-bound training programme in Kitulgala. 

A T Cooray celebrates 90 years of creating modern office spaces

As Sri Lanka steadily makes its way to becoming a modern metropolis and global brands battle it out to be seen and heard in the city, transforming the modern office space to be more ergonomic, environmentally and employee friendly and appealing to customers is a prerequisite for all businesses despite their size and tenure in the business arena. 

NTB Amex offers exclusive savings at Keells Super

Nations Trust Bank (NTB) American Express (Amex) has partnered with Keells Super to offer exceptional savings and privileges every day of the week, exclusively for NTB Amex cardmembers. Look for these exciting promotions on your next visit to Keells Super:

SDB holds 2016 Lakdaru award ceremony

SDB Bank organised a special award ceremony for Lakdaru account holders who have qualified the Grade Five scholarship examination in 2016, G.C.E. O/L examination in 2015 and Facebook art competition winners. The grand felicitation was held at the Kularathne Hall, Ananda College, Colombo 10, recently.

DOK Solutions Lanka achieves ISO 9001 and OHSAS 18001

DOK Solutions Lanka (Pvt.) Limited, one of the leading record management and document archiving companies in Sri Lanka, achieved ISO 9001 Quality Management System Certification and OHSAS 18001 for the management of occupational health and safety in provision of record management services and its convergence including physical and digital archiving of documents. 

Dialog customers support Lady Ridgeway Little Hearts Project via Star Points

Dialog customers have donated Rs.15 million for the Little Hearts Project at the Lady Ridgeway Children’s Hospital in Colombo, for the construction of a 10-storey cardiac and critical care complex for children.

Hayleys Puritas Sath Diyawara gives 2,200 children brand-new start to school year

What started off as the group’s flagship corporate social responsibility (CSR) endeavour, Puritas Sath Diyawara, which provides 110,000 litres (daily) of drinking water to over 25,000 people in 16 villages, in areas with high prevalence of the chronic kidney disease (CKD) in Sri Lanka’s North and North Central Provinces, has now evolved into its extension ‘Going Beyond’.