Foreign exchange reserves were measured at US$ 2,267.5 million by the end of October, down from US$ 2,704.2 million in September as the Central Bank settled US$ 492.9 million worth foreign liabilities during the month. Sri Lanka is scrambling to shor

Commercial Leasing and Finance PLC (CLC), a unit of LOLC Group, yesterday became the first listed entity to cross the Rs.500 billion mark in market capitalisation on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), while driving the benchmark All Share Price Index

As more countries appear to be ditching the ‘zero-COVID’ strategy and beginning to deal with the virus as an endemic compared to a pandemic, rating agency ICRA Lanka recommends Sri Lanka to follow the same path as the worst of the pandemic appear

The availability of ready-to-eat wheat flour-based food products will take a considerable hit in the coming weeks, as the shortage of key ingredients to feed the supply chains of the confectionary and bakery sectors has pushed the manufacturers to cu

The government is expected to present a non-traditional and transformational budget targeting a sizeable reduction in the country’s fiscal deficit for 2022 by focusing on further cutting down non-essential and non-prioritised State expenditures wh

There are signs that the prolonged and unprecedented monetary and fiscal policy support extended to blunt the negative impacts on the pandemic on the broader economy has reached its limits, as the excesses are emerging by way of rising fiscal deficit

Inflation in the Colombo district surged in October after the government lifted price controls on many essentials while there were clear effects on prices from the easing of lockdowns as people ventured out for outdoor dining and other recreational a

Issuing fresh rules on the repatriation and conversion of export proceeds, the Central Bank yesterday asked the exporters of both goods and services to convert their export proceeds into rupees, upon meeting a number of authorised payments in foreign

Moody’s Investors Service yesterday downgraded Government of Sri Lanka’s long-term foreign currency issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings to Caa2 from Caa1 under review for downgrade, concluding a review for downgrade initiated on July 19, 202

It is vital to support Sri Lanka’s services and informal sectors, which form the largest share of the economy, to recover from the pandemic-induced hardships, as they remain the hardest-hit from the once-in-a-century health crisis, according to a W

Cabinet consent was given to the Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB) to enter into necessary agreements to secure technical assistance of France’s inclusive public development bank, Agence Francuise de Developpment (AFD) to facilitate the process of registe

Marking a new milestone, the Colombo Stock Exchange’s (CSE) benchmark index All Share Price Index (ASPI) yesterday closed over the 10,000-point mark for the first time in its history, driven by high participation of local retail investors.

Sri Lanka’s Balance of Payment (BOP) deficit, which could hit the highest on record this year, eased slightly in August after the direct investments received through the first six months were counted as an inflow with a long lag.

Amid worsening external imbalances, the Central Bank (CB) is likely to increase policy rates by a minimum of 50 basis points (bps) by year-end and 150 bps by next year with the government reaching out to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) around t

Sri Lanka’s national level consumer prices continued to increase in September, at similar levels in August, although the prices eased from a year earlier period, predominantly on some decline seen in food prices.

The merchandise imports surged in August, significantly outstripping the increase in exports, as global oil prices climbed while the importers raced to place more orders for goods than they typically do,

Although the government faces an uphill task in managing public finances amid significant decline in the tax revenues caused by pandemic-induced restrictions, it is unlikely to introduce major changes to its current tax policy, which has remained low

As the COVID-19 pandemic delivered a massive hit on the local labour market, the government going forward should urgently look at improving and expanding access to social security for employees and employers, the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) sai

The Central Bank yesterday left its key policy rates unchanged indicating that the Monetary Board considers the current monetary policy stance is appropriate to both fend off any demand side inflationary pressures, while supporting the recovery of th

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered its growth outlook for Sri Lanka, alongside the rest of the world’s, on the risks stemming from the prolonged virus that gave rise to supply chain disruptions and higher price pressures, which made the

There is a greater likelihood for the Central Bank to maintain the current monetary policy stance at today’s monetary policy meeting—which will be announced tomorrow, given the damage caused to the economy in the third quarter by the prolonged lo

As Sri Lanka is roughly a month away from presenting its budget for 2022, a former International Monetary Fund (IMF) official said it doesn’t have to be a crisis programme, instead it should focus on growth, with a medium-term path towards fiscal d

As the Sri Lankan government continues to resort to short-term ad hoc arrangements to service the country’s external debt obligations, two leading international investment banks warn that the lack of clarity on the debt sustainability front could k

The outstanding debt of the Central government rose sharply in the first seven months of 2021, with the domestic financing increasing the most, as the budget deficit expanded to large proportions when the pandemic knocked the state revenues off cours

Sri Lankan exporters yesterday slammed the Central Bank for unjustly placing all exporters in one basket when the latter charged that exporters are not fully repatriating and converting their proceeds within a reasonable timeframe.

Sri Lanka plans to draft acts, rules and regulations required to attract investments into digital banking and blockchain technology and to facilitate cryptocurrency mining companies to invest in Sri Lanka.

While underscoring the need to help farmers make a gradual shift towards organic fertilizer usage from chemical fertilizers to overcome the short-term difficulties confronted during the transition, the Export Development Board (EDB) Chairman Suresh d

The Central Bank has issued guidelines on how the banks should approach when dealing with loan impairments, effective from next year, when they come out of the latest round of moratoria, as there could still be a section of borrowers whose cash flows

The government and Central Bank (CB) expect nearly US$10 billion in fresh foreign exchange outflows over the next six months to build the country’s foreign reserves to a comfortable level.

Amid a foreign exchange and a looming external debt crisis, Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal yesterday unveiled the much-awaited ‘The Six-Month Road Map for Ensuring Macroeconomic and Financial System Stability’, with an aim to usher in