Sri Lanka’s income inequality further worsened last year as the poorest suffered the largest proportionate earnings shock, while the smallest proportionate income losses were suffered by the rich due to mobility restrictions imposed to contain the

Fitch Ratings expects Sri Lanka’s government to meet its remaining external debt maturities for the rest of the year, including a US $ 1 billion International Sovereign Bond (ISB) maturing in July, with the partial easing off external liquidity pre

The Cabinet nod has been received to commence negotiations for a preferential trade agreement (PTA) with Bangladesh to bolster trade flows between the two countries.

The continuous COVID-19-related restrictions are making the government’s low tax regime completely useless, as the consumer and producer prices have surged significantly, adding a much higher tax on people than a true legislated tax imposed on them

The Ceylon Motor Traders Association (CMTA) has expressed its concerns on the government’s decision to import 400 vehicles—including 227 luxury SUVs–to a value of Rs. 3.7 billion through the Bank of Ceylon.

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has approved US $ 40 million in additional financing for Sri Lanka to expand water supply, sanitation and hygiene services in seven districts through the Water Supply and Sanitation Improvement Project

The government is likely to end up with a blowout in the fiscal gap this year with the deficit potentially reaching double digits amid slowing tax income due to COVID-19 related restrictions and heightened expenditure on virus control and welfare spe

The Central Bank this week extended relief to the borrowers of finance and leasing companies, nearly two weeks after it decided to give relief to the borrowers of the banking sector, as the economic fallout of the extended lockdowns are reaching disp

The government yesterday asserted it would explore all possible opportunities to reach its ambitious development targets, while taking a cautionary approach with regard to foreign borrowings when realising its growth agenda.

The Government of Sri Lanka yesterday went all out to lure investors by showcasing a series of unique selling propositions while making a number of pledges, which included the affirmation of attractive and sustainable returns to those who are willing

Appetite of local banks to facilitate the corporate sector with new loan facilities to reprice their existing debt stocks to long-term fixed-rated loans under the current low-interest rate regime is waning amid concerns over interest rate risks and t

A number of programmes are being planned to expedite the production of organic fertiliser required for the Maha season, a media communiqué from the President’s Media Division this week said.

The government is planning to list the country’s expressways and related assets via a State-owned business entity in the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) similar to Selendiva Investments Limited, which was established to hold key State-owned real estat

The pandemic-related restrictions have pushed over 500,000 people in Sri Lanka into the depths of poverty in 2020 alone, while the disastrous implications of the most recent round of controls on people’s lives and livelihoods are yet to be assessed

Despite the government’s recent success in securing funding from multilateral or bilateral partners to build up the country’s foreign exchange reserves, S&P Global Ratings this week warned that such credit lines and budgetary assistance alone may

Globally diversified financial conglomerate LOLC Group posted a record-breaking performance for the financial year ending on March 31, 2021, achieving unprecedented Rs.57 billion in profit before tax (PBT) and a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs.53 billio

In what appears to be the beginning of a spell of poor economic readings, the credit consumed by the private sector lost momentum in April, largely due to virus related restrictions and partly to New Year holidays.

The seafood exports from Sri Lanka will not be impacted due to the contamination of the waters by the chemical spillage from the burning container ship X-Press Pearl, as the bulk is sourced from the Northern region, assured the seafood exporters.

Sri Lankan Navy soldiers removing debris washed ashore from the Singapore-registered container ship MV X-Press Pearl,

Sri Lanka’s apparel sector fears about the likelihood of a shift in trade taking place, which will be difficult to reverse, as the industry is faced with mounting challenges in delivering its orders on time.

Engulfed with years of poor planning, execution coupled with inefficient operations, Sri Lanka’s public sector health insurance scheme, Agrahara, partly funded by the Treasury, has been failing to achieve its key objectives while increasingly relyi

The Central Bank is engaged with banks and finance companies to see if some form of relief could be afforded to borrowers troubled by the ongoing restrictions on businesses and livelihood imposed by the authorities to stem to virus spread.

The remittance income in April jumped 38.3 percent from a low base a year ago, as such income plunged to its worst in April last year when the pandemic made a large part of the world economy to go into lockdowns, disrupting financial and trade flows.

The Monetary Board of the Central Bank, which met Wednesday to assess the current monetary policy stance decided to keep the key policy interest rates at the prevailing historically low levels as they were of the belief that the current policy stance

Sri Lanka’s outward labour migration declined sharply by 73.6 percent year-on-year (YoY) to 53,713 persons in 2020, with the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide.

Trade deficit in March widened for the first time nearly in a year as imports recovered almost at the same pace as exports partly driven by seasonal demand, leading to a widening of the trade deficit in the first quarter, the latest data released by

Despite the ongoing COVID-19 third wave in the country, First Capital Research (FCR) is largely ruling out a possible rate cut and expects the Central Bank (CB) to hold policy rates at the fourth monetary policy review announcement of the year schedu

Profits at Bank of Ceylon (BoC) soared as the State lending giant saw a burst in loans in the three months ended in March (1Q21) as the economy was off to a robust start while the lender was also at the forefront in channelling billions of funds into

The World Bank (WB) projects that the inward remittance flows to South Asia will slow slightly to 3.5 percent year-on-year (YoY) this year, after rising by around 5.2 percent YoY in 2020, defying the predictions.

Governments in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) such as Sri Lanka are urged by the World Bank (WB) to adopt a comprehensive set of policies to address the drawbacks of informal sectors,