As Sri Lanka crossed two million milestone in tourist arrivals in 2024 for the second time in its history, the Sri Lanka Tourism Alliance cautioned the government and industry stakeholders against complacency, emphasising the need for urgent reforms

Sri Lanka’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have accused the Central Bank of undermining both the government assurances and industry pleas by issuing a controversial circular on loan relief, without adequate consultation.

Sri Lanka’s budget is getting into fine shape with substantially higher revenues made possible from higher taxes which are further supported by the robust recovery seen in the economy this year.

Market participants in the secondary market exhibited mixed sentiment, pivoting from the dull sentiment yesterday observing thin trading volumes and limited market activity.

Indices closed in green as a result of price gains in counters such as LOLC Holdings, Hatton National Bank and Hatton National Bank nonvoting with the turnover crossing Rs. 8.4 billion.

Sri Lanka’s export performance for the month of November witnessed a Year-on-Year (YoY) contraction of 5.6 percent with revenue reaching US$ 943.1 million. The decrease is primarily attributed to reduced earnings from exports of Rubber-based produc

Santa appears to have turned a lot more generous this Christmas for Sri Lanka which went through a lot of hardship during the last few years, as the country received another gift by way of its first sovereign credit rating upgrade.

Fitch Ratings has upgraded Sri Lanka’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ’CCC+’, from ’RD’ (Restricted Default).

The Western province continued to lead the provincial gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023, albeit slipping from the 2022 levels while the North Western and Central provinces following as the distant second and third in the provincial distribution of

The confectionery industry expressed serious concerns over a new set of rules, introduced for labelling and advertising packaged food in the country, which is set to take effect from January 2025.

The government has reached an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to raise the income tax-free threshold to Rs.150,000 per month, from the current Rs.100,000, a move aimed at providing relief to the lower-income groups.

Sri Lanka’s third quarter output expanded at a faster 5.5 percent in the third quarter ended in September 2024, compared to the same period last year.

Sri Lanka’s economic activities across both the manufacturing and services activities continued to expand during November.

Sri Lanka wrapped up its foreign currency debt restructuring last week with the announcement of the near full acceptance of the new bonds in exchange of the existing foreign currency bonds in default for over two years.

The private sector of Sri Lanka plays a prominent role in enabling corruption within the public sector of the country, a recent study conducted on corruption by Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) found.

Margins narrow on declining rates, but higher volumes from loans to support top-line 

Adani Ports noted that the project, which is a joint venture with John Keells Holdings (JKH) and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), would be financed through the company’s internal accruals and capital management plan.

Sri Lanka’s publishing industry yesterday raised serious concerns over the 18 percent Value Added Tax (VAT) imposed on books, which according to industry stakeholders has threatened the survival of the entire sector in the country.

Colombo Dockyard PLC is preparing for a major shift after Japan’s Onomichi Dockyard Company Limited, its majority shareholder, stepped away from the management this week, to allow the company to bring in a new strategic investor.

Sri Lanka has secured a place among the top ten countries demonstrating the most progress in combating money laundering and terrorist financing, as highlighted by the 13th Basel AML Index 2024.

Transaction will include business with revenues of around US $ 213mn (Rs.62bn) in CY 2023 and global ownership of Camso brand Camso brand will be permanently assigned to CEAT across categories after a 3-year licensing period

Sri Lanka’s Local Assembler’s Association, has raised concerns over the government’s decision to resume imports of completely built units (CBUs) from February next year.

The Sri Lanka Shippers’ Council claimed that the government coffers could be losing as much as two-thirds of potential border tax revenue, due to corrupt activities by the officials in key border agencies.

Sri Lanka’s merchandise export earnings in October 2024 climbed to US$ 1.097 billion, marking an 18.22 percent year-on-year increase, driven by higher earnings from key export categories, including apparel and textiles, tea, rubber-based products,

Chaudhary Group (CG) Corp Global, a Nepal-based multinational conglomerate, reaffirmed its commitment to Sri Lanka yesterday, pledging to remain invested in the long term while identifying opportunities to expand further.

Inflation in the Colombo district fell further into deflationary territory in November, as expected by the Central Bank last week, as non-food prices fell sharply while food prices decelerated from a month ago.

Sri Lanka’s tourism sector is in need of a robust set of policy, to allow it to unleash its full potential, The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) said while asserting that the same old models on books may not work.

The listed companies reported some robust top and bottom-lines in the three months through September 2024 supported by cooler prices and lower interest rates which helped them to bring back more customers and stretch their margins, Capital Trust Rese

While shifting towards a single policy interest rate structure, the Central Bank yesterday introduced what it calls the overnight policy rate (OPR) as its primary monetary policy tool and set it at 8.00 percent, effectively delivering a 50-basis-poin

Sri Lanka yesterday reached a significant milestone in its debt restructuring agenda with the official launch of the exchange of its outstanding International Sovereign Bonds (ISBs), totalling approximately US$12.55 billion as of November 25, 2024.