The leading cement manufacturer in the country, INSEE Cement Sri Lanka has signed a landmark agreement with the State Engineering Corporation (SEC) to purchase dolomite, which is used as raw material in the cement manufacturing process.

The national tripartite agreement to prorate wages will be extended until December 31, 2020—a decision that was reached taking into account the recent spike in the number of COVID-19-infected persons in the country, leading to partial closure of bu

The prime lending rate fell by a steeper 79 basis points (bps) last week, pulling the benchmark rate below 6.0 percent for the first time in recent history after the Monetary Board decided to keep policy rates unchanged last Thursday, while reiterati

MILCO (Pvt) Ltd, a State–owned business engaged in dairy production, has started to make profits after suffering annual losses for the past three years, its Chairman Lasantha Wickramasinghe said.

Sri Lanka’s export earnings—both merchandise and services— fell 17.74 percent year-on-year (YoY) to US$ 9, 693 during January through September period, though the decline initially expected was sharper.

The ongoing global health crisis continues to present fresh challenges to businesses, particularly the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector, with eight out of 10 such enterprises struggling to stay afloat, a recent survey carried out by the

As the newly elected government is gearing up to present its maiden budget next month, State Minister of Money, Capital Market, and State Enterprise Reforms, Ajith Nivard Cabraal said the Budget 2021 would reflect a “balanced partnership”.

Sri Lankans working abroad sent in substantially more money to their kith and kin back home in September with cumulative remittances eclipsing the total amount of moneys remitted back to the country during the nine months in 2019, signaling the resil

Holger Seubert , Newly appointed Ambassador for the Federal Republic of Germany to Sri Lanka paid a courtesy call on Susantha Ratnayaka, Chairman Board of Investment at his office in the WTC.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday visited premier blue chip John Keells Holings’ flagship project Cinnamon Life.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) this week forecasted Sri Lanka’s economy to contract by 4.6 percent, significantly higher than a 0.5 percent contraction it predicted in April, as the coronavirus pandemic-related disruptions continuing to take

Sri Lanka’s earnings from merchandise exports crossed the US$ 1 billion mark again in September after July, indicating that the country’s export sector is recovering at a faster pace after the brief setback caused by the curfews imposed to contai

Sri Lanka’s apparel workers have lost estimated 40.8 percent of their usual wages or total of Rs.4.64 billion during the March-May period, when the country went into a national lockdown to contain the threat of COVID-19, according to a recent repor

John Keells Stock Brokers (JKSB) remains optimistic about Sri Lanka’s ability to return to international capital markets to raise funds it needs as the economy normalises after the coronavirus-related lockdowns dealt a severe blow from April throug

Phuket’s go-go dancers sit playing on their phones in empty bars lining deserted streets as the Thai tourist island reels from the ravages of the pandemic with little sign of any recovery soon.

Hit by COVID-19-related disruptions, Sri Lanka’s economy is projected to shrink by 6.7 percent this year, recording the third highest economic contraction among the South Asian region economies, after the Maldives (-19.5) and India (-9.6), the late

SriLankan Airlines Chairman Ashok Pathirage expressed confidence in the national carrier SriLankan Airlines playing a key role in making Sri Lanka a ‘regional airport’, an effort that would require positioning Colombo as an economic centre and no

The government has no intention of going for an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout programme as there is no need for such a move as the country’s debt services have been effectively managed, Minister of Finance, Capital Markets and State Ent

With 50,000 merchants already onboard, the Central Bank (CB) yesterday officially launched LANKAQR, the national QR standard for local currency payments, which would be followed by a dedicated islandwide campaign, aiming to reduce currency printing c

The benchmark all share price index (ASPI) of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) recorded significant gains outperforming all other main indexes around the globe during the month of September. The ASPI gained 12 percent in September and in value terms

Morison PLC, the largest oral solid dosage pharmaceutical manufacturer in Sri Lanka and a subsidiary of Hemas Holdings PLC, ceremonially opened their new state-of-the-art manufacturing plant and research & development facility in the presence of Prim

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa reiterated government’s support for the upliftment of small and medium enterprises (SME) so that the sector can be an active player in the country’s post-COVID-19 growth story.

The government yesterday came up with a strong response against the recent sovereign rating downgrade by Moody’s Investors Service, stressing that the international rating agency had completely ignored the current ground realities and the ongoing e

A leading asset manager yesterday questioned Moody’s untimely downgrade of Sri Lanka’s sovereign rating by two notches to Caa1 from B2, while saying it could either be an over-reaction to remedy the rating agency’s failure to downgrade the coun

Moody’s Investors Service yesterday downgraded Sri Lanka’s long-term foreign currency issuer and senior unsecured ratings to Caa1, from B2 and changed the outlook to stable, after more than five months since the rating agency put the country’s

A fun-packed event themed ‘Passing of the Baton’ was held last week to mark Kasthuri Chellaraja Wilson taking over as the Group CEO of diversified conglomerate Hemas PLC from October 1, 2020. The picture shows the outgoing Group CEO Steven Ender

The commendable performance of Sri Lankan exporters and the resilience shown during an unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic are to be rewarded by the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) of the Ministry of Trade, through a proposed export stimulus rew

In an effort to make Sri Lanka a high-income earning country within 100 years of Independence, the international development agency of the United States yesterday pledged its support launching the Sri Lanka@100 initiative that is expected to contribu

Battling bankruptcy amid the coronavirus crisis, Sri Lanka’s foreign employment agencies this week urged the government to extend the COVID-19 relief package granted to the tourism industry to them as well, to ensure the welfare of 1.5 million Sri

The transhipment container volumes at the Port of Colombo recovered to pre-pandemic levels in July, ending the declining trend recorded since March and leading to an overall recovery of container volumes, according to Central Bank data.