COLOMBO (REUTERS): The Sri Lankan rupee closed weaker yesterday as importer dollar demand surpassed mild selling of the U.S. currency by exporters, traders said. The rupee closed at 159.55/70 per dollar, compared with Thursday’s close of 159.40

UNITED KINGDOM (AFP): US President Donald Trump said yesterday that ties between Britain and the US were “very very strong” after launching an extraordinary attack on Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit strategy during a visit alrea

NEW YORK(AFP): Most Asian markets rose again yesterday following a record close on Wall Street as trade war fears are tempered by hopes China and the US will eventually reach a compromise, while attention turns to the start of earnings season. Equiti

BEIJING (AFP):  China pledged yesterday to boost cooperation with fellow BRICS countries in response to soaring frictions with the US, as it seeks to cultivate alliances to help it weather a bruising trade war. 

SEOUL (AFP): A US hedge fund is demanding almost US$800 million from South Korea at an international tribunal over the controversial merger of two units of the giant Samsung conglomerate, officials said yesterday.

A meeting between President Maithripala Sirisena and the representatives of the country’s gem and jewellery industry has discussed the difficulties faced by the industry due to new taxes imposed by the government.

Some of Sri Lanka’s large banks still face an uphill task beefing up their capital levels in sync with the global regulatory norms as the country’s Rs.11 trillion banking sector braces for stringent se

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC has announced its plans to raise Rs.5 billion, with an option to raise up to a further Rs.5 billion in the event of an oversubscription, for its capital through a Basel III compliant debenture issue that opens on Mon

In one of the first cases to be filed in Sri Lanka in respect of an infringement of the layout design of an integrated circuit, on or around the 6th of July 2018, A.M.T Nirmala, a young inventor from an eng

The lengthy, inefficient and burdensome exporter registration process is discouraging Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) entering international markets, which has also become abusive, a study conducted by Colombo-based think-tank showed. 

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Board of Investment (BOI), Export Development Board (EDB) and Business France yesterday to enhance cooperation, trade 

Inconsistencies in Sri Lanka’s taxation policy during the last 4-6 years have created a significant impact on attracting new investments to the country, Sri Lanka’s largest foreign direct 

The country’s tea industry regulator, the Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB), has decided to conduct tests on all teas coming into the Colombo Tea Auction, to ensure the quality of Ceylon Tea and 

Sri Lanka has made two-position improvement in the 2018 innovation rankings as the country made some limited progress in general infrastructure, ecological sustainability and knowledge and technology outputs, supporting such innovation. 

The worker remittances to Sri Lanka rebounded during the first five months, while the earnings from tourism continued to grow, as the two current account flows gave some respite to the country’s worsening external account track record in recent

(Colombo) REUTERS: Sri Lankan shares closed firmer yesterday as investors bought beaten-down blue chips, while many market participants remained on the sidelines due to a lack of bullish news amid concerns over political uncertainty, stockbrokers sai

(Colombo) REUTERS: Sri Lanka’s Central Bank is concerned about the dollar hoarding and market manipulation that’s exacerbating the rupee’s weakness and has the tools to correct any misalignment in the exchange rate, its governor tol

Upon the requests of depositors, the Central Bank yesterday said it instructed Swarnamahal Financial Services PLC (SFS) to urgently pay 10 percent of deposit liabilities commencing July 10 (yesterday). Both SFS and its parent, ETI Finance Ltd., have

The government has selected Singapore-based Lazard Asia Limited and Sri Lanka’s MTI Consulting to advise on the sale of the government ownership in Hilton and Grand Hyatt Hotels.

Sri Lanka may get its largest convention centre through Chinese investments, which would potentially become one of the main platforms to host Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) related events.

(Colombo) REUTERS: Sri Lankan shares closed steady yesterday, while the turnover slumped to a near three-month low as many investors remained on the sidelines due to a lack of bullish news amid concerns over political uncertainty, stockbrokers said.

(Colombo) REUTERS: The Sri Lankan rupee closed steady yesterday after six straight sessions of decline, as importer dollar demand offset mild exporter dollar sales, traders said.

Sri Lanka’s apparel exports rebounded in May with a 9.3 percent year-on-year (YoY) growth to achieve US $ 415 million in export earnings, which is also the highest growth rate recorded so far for this year, as Europe entered the summer season,

The much-delayed annual reports of the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) and Employees’ Trust Fund (ETF), which have been finalised now, would be released shortly Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy said. 

AFP: A global stocks rally took root yesterday after strong US jobs data and despite Brexit uncertainty that boosted the pound.

(Colombo) REUTERS: The Sri Lankan rupee fell for a sixth straight session yesterday on importer dollar demand and further weakness was expected in the currency, traders said.

ECONOMYNEXT: Sri Lanka’s government has been urged to simplify the process for registering exporters to make it more effective, as the present system is seen as too cumbersome and time-consuming and open to abuse.

The Central Bank said the troubled ETI Finance Limited (ETIFL) has paid back 10 percent of the deposit liabilities to its existing deposit holders in the first round of payments concluded two weeks ago, and

Sampath Bank PLC last Friday announced its plans to raise US$ 100 million quoted in the Singapore Exchange (SGX), as the bank is gearing up for faster growth while adhering to new and higher capital thresholds coming into effect from early next year.

State-owned savings giant, the National Savings Bank (NSB) may have reversed its earlier decision to dispose the shares of 37 listed companies that are part of the bank’s equity portfolio, within a period of four months, according to the Centra