Sri Lanka’s imports, supported by lower vehicle and gold imports, continued to decline while exports largely recovered from its recent decline to see the island nation’s trade deficit narrowing in August, the trade data released by the Central Ba

Sri Lanka banking sector’s gross non-performing loans (NPLs) ratio is forecast to reach five percent at the end of this year, the highest level since 2014 amid increased market lending rates and sluggish economy, Central Bank (CB) said. According t

The Monetary Board of the Central Bank (CB) yesterday decided to maintain policy interest rates at their current levels, awaiting for materialisation of various measures aimed at accelerating subpar economic growth in the country, while being cautiou

Police officers arrest an activist at London City Airport during the fourth day of demonstrations by the climate change action group Extinction Rebellion, in London yesterday. Demonstrations occurred in 60 cities around the world this week, with thou

With nearly one-third of Sri Lanka’s adult banked population considered to be inactive account holders and many facing significant constraints in accessing finance, the World Bank (WB) urges the country’s banks to position themselves as developme

The Central Bank (CB) expects private sector credit growth to pick up by end of this year amid anticipated low interest rates through lending rate caps slapped on banks and enhanced business confidence. Speaking t

The lending rate caps on banks may not yield the desired effect of stimulating credit demand in the short term, as the root cause of the problem lies not with the rates but with the borrower sentiments and subdued economic activity, said Fitch Ratin

Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts, the leisure arm of John Keells Holdings continues expansion with the opening of its newest hotel, Cinnamon Velifushi Maldives. The opening of the new r

The maiden launch of the Ceylon Tea Global Promotion Campaign took-off ceremonially with pomp and pageant in the capital city of the Russia Federation last week. Moscow was the center of attraction where 150 guests from the tea fraternity were mesme

First Capital Research (FCR), a Colombo-based equities research house, expects Sri Lanka’s economic growth to pick up to 4.1 percent next year with possible easing of political uncertainty following the Presidential Election scheduled for next mont

The rent-seeking nature of Sri Lanka’s public sector is blamed for the failure to fully implement the key e-government initiatives, including the Electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) System aimed at enhancing the efficiency and cutting wastage

Sri Lanka’s IT industry experts recently emphasised on the adoption of an overarching digital policy framework to avert confusion and potential policy contradictions as a number of digital related draft polici

(Colombo) REUTERS: A court in Sri Lanka set up a three-judge panel yesterday to hear a petition challenging the citizenship of presidential nominee Gotabaya Rajapaksa, which could disqualify the hardline former defence chief from the November 16 vote

As the authorities continue to practice the “plan to fail” approach based on outdated planning models incentivised by emergency power purchases, experts and academics warn another power crisis could materialise in 2023, unless Sri Lanka’s energ

The World Bank unveiled yesterday a new report to guide policymakers and development practitioners across Sri Lanka in better investing in the health and education of all Sri Lankans. The report titled ‘Sri Lanka Human Capital Development : Realiz

South Asian academics and think tanks yesterday expressed hope for a shift in political structure and thinking to move forward with regional integration, which has come to a grinding halt due to region

The Treasury fears revenue loss in excess of Rs.300 billion by the end of this year as the economy struggles to recover from the adverse impacts of the Easter Sunday attacks. “So far, we have seen a Rs.215 billion loss in state revenue. If the rev

Business tycoon and Vallibel One PLC Chairman Dhammika Perera yesterday laid out a brand-new tax structure with tax cuts and incentives to guide Sri Lanka to the developed nation territory by 2030, as the current tax regime has failed to attract the

The present regime’s absence of effective communication skills to engage all relevant stakeholders was pointed out as the main impediment for state-owned enterprise (SOE) reforms in Sri Lanka, by an opposition lawmaker, at a recent forum, although

As efforts to introduce a productivity-based wage model to the plantation sector have repeatedly proved futile with politicised estate sector trade unions, Sri Lanka’s Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) now seek State intervention at the Colombo

HONG KONG (AFP) - Asian markets edged up yesterday as investors turn their attention to the China-US trade talks, while keeping an eye on the Gulf region after last week’s air strikes on Saudi oil facili

Brandix was bestowed with the accolade ‘Exporter of the Year’ by President Maithripala Sirisena at the Presidential Export Awards 2018/2019 held yesterday. The award was accepted by Brandix Directors Ranga Ranmadugala and Dave Ranasinghe (L to R)

Sri Lanka’s tourism sector is acknowledged as one of the highest revenue earners for the economy but poor planning and slow execution by the relevant authorities are observed to be pulling the sector down, implied a senior industry representative.

While insisting that the government has successfully stabilised Sri Lanka’s economy overcoming a debt crisis over last five years, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe asserted it is now up to the private sector to decide whether the economy has to

While assuring the government’s continuous commitment to facilitate foreign investments in the country, the government appeals to the foreign investors not to get distracted by the current domestic

A leading academic claims the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process concerning the Colombo Port City project which was renamed as Colombo International Financial City (CIFC) had fundamental flaws.

State-owned enterprises (SOE) liabilities are posing both explicit and implicit contingent risks to Sri Lanka and some other Asia Pacific nations such as Vietnam, Bangladesh and Papua New Guinea, Moody’s

With elections nearing, a leading economist painted gloomy economic prospects for Sri Lanka, saying that the country is faced with a choice between the devil and the deep blue sea after the current dispensation missed once in a generation opportunity

The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) plans to call tenders for a fresh Rs.1.3 billion multi-country marketing campaign next week targeting 12 key source markets of Sri Lanka tourism.

The tea exporters recently complained that the decline in trade finance in the Sri Lankan banking sector restricts tea exports to key traditional markets while hindering the efforts by the exporters to penetrate into new markets. “Due to various r