Central Bank looks at risk management structures and investment policy guidelines
Arjuna Mahendran, Sri Lanka’s new Central Bank Governor, was a senior economist at the bank before moving to the private sector and charting a successful career as a global investment banker and fund manager. Having served once as chairman of the Board of Investment under Ranil Wickremesinghe’s stewardship as Prime Minister in 2002-2004, the experienced [...]
Golden Key under fresh CB probe
The Central Bank (CB) is closely examining its various, market-related activities, whether proper risk management processes were followed and whether any individuals – within the regulator and outside – need to be prosecuted in the Golden Key fiasco. The bank, under a new Governor, is also unlikely to adjust the rupee value right now and [...]
SEC – Hunt on for new DG
Now with a brand new chairman at its helm, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has ‘restarted’ its hunt for a new Director General, SEC officials say. “There are a few names being discussed,” a SEC source told the Business Times, adding that someone who previously held this post may take it up for the [...]
DFCC – NDB merger unlikely
The much talked about and much anticipated merger of NDB and DFCC banks is unlikely to go through, with highly placed government officials saying the state entities which collectively own over 30 per cent in each bank will not vote for the merger. “They (new government) don’t see any business sense in this,” a high [...]
Clarity needed on 15% interest for senior citizens
Clarity is lacking on the new 15 per cent interest rate for senior citizens interest rate on Rs.1 million deposits in commercial banks with many banks saying they are awaiting direction from the Central Bank (CB). This was proposed at Thursday’s mini budget following the last regime’s proposal to grant 12 per cent annual interest [...]
Private sector workers’ pay hike at employer’s discretion
The government’s request to grant private sector workers a wage increase of Rs.2,500 per month goes against trade union proposals urging the government to make it mandatory. The request to the private sector was made during the budget speech by Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayaka in Parliament on Thursday. Employers Federation of Ceylon CEO Ravi Peiris [...]
Mixed bag in Sri Lanka’s amended 2015 Budget
Sri Lanka’s 2015 Budget has become a mixed bag with the second time amendment or adjustment made this week under the new Maithri regime in its 100 day revolution budget presented in parliament by Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake on Thursday. The previous government on November 5 altered the estimated expenditure of 2015 appropriation bill presented [...]
Urgent need to revive SEC probes
Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake hit all around the wicket, in cricket parlance, on Thursday providing a host of concessions, handouts and relief in the budget to Sri Lanka’s long suffering masses. He announced a reduction in prices for LPG gas, chillie, Maldive fish, dried fish, green gram, bread, wheat flour, milk powder, sugar, bus and [...]
NDB Capital Holdings counts Rs. 100 billion in AUM
NDB Capital Holdings (NCAP) said this week it had surpassed a new milestone in early 2015 by recording an aggregate of Rs. 100 billion in Assets Under Management (AUM) within the group. “This achievement solidifies NCAP’s leadership position as the entity with the largest fund base under management in the investment banking sector of Sri [...]
Expolanka launches TravelBridge
Expolanka recently launched TravelBridge, a business-to-business offering enabling any subscribing travel agent to, via a single point of access, book “over 200,000 hotel properties, affordable escorted tours, award-winning cruises and inside excursions” according to a statement. Additionally, the statement also noted that “TravelBridge offers one-point access to all travel services to create a memorable itinerary [...]
Sri Lanka’s Cricket World Cup team lacks confidence, 1996 World Cup-winning trio says
Three of Sri Lanka’s greatest-ever cricketers – Arjuna Ranatunga, Aravinda de Silva and Muttiah Muralitharan – strongly believe the current Sri Lanka squad for the upcoming World Cup cricket tournament lacks confidence and may not be fully geared to ‘deliver the goods’. While expressing the hope, however, that Sri Lanka will – just like in [...]
“IBPO aims for more specialist/managerial courses, rural centres”
The Institute of Business Process Outsourcing (IBPO), one of the first of its kind in Sri Lanka, is currently training 29 students in customer care, finance and back office services, a part of its entry-level curriculum, according to National Youth Corps(NYC) Chairman/ Director Nalinda Ilangakoon. The IBPO was established jointly by the NYC and Sri [...]
Dialog’s Rs. 1 per day offer to be a member of Falck Emergency Medical Services
Falck, with the objective of providing high quality emergency medical care to the entire Western Province by March, recently entered into a strategic partnership with Dialog Axiata. Falck, the world’s leading Emergency Medical Services (EMS) provider and Dialog are now able to integrate Falck’s membership plans to all Dialog subscribers. “Our objective for Sri Lanka [...]
Palm oil comes to the rescue of Watawala Plantations in the 9mths to Dec 2014
Palm oil came to the rescue of Watawala Plantations PLC has reported revenues of Rs. 5.3 billion for the nine months ended 31 December 2014. Net profit or PAT for the same period amounted to Rs. 409 million against Rs. 311 million in the same period last year. The company said in a media release [...]
Sri Lankan economists’ body wants young professionals to join the organisation
The Sri Lanka Economic Association (SLEA), the country’s main body of economists, is urging younger economists to join the organisation and contribute to enhance the profession and also nation building. “We need more younger people (in the association),” said SLEA President Prof. A.D.V.S. Indraratne speaking to reporters at the OPA headquarters in Colombo last week [...]
At last ‘Super-rich’ tax includes in 100 day revolutionary budget
Sri Lanka’s ‘super-rich’ have been called upon to pay a ‘mansion tax’ of Rs.1 million per annum if they own houses valued at Rs.100 million or more or on houses above 500 square feet whichever is higher. This was announced in the interim budget called the ‘100 day revolution of the new regime’. Presenting the [...]
Motor traders welcome move to regularise motor vehicle imports
Motor traders say that the new government has taken a bold step towards regularising Sri Lanka’s motor trade and vehicle importation by introducing an annual licence fee of Rs. 1.5 million for brand new and used vehicle importers in the budget presented in parliament on Thursday. President of the Ceylon Motor Traders’ Association, Gihan Pilapitiya [...]
Product innovation can strongly boost Sri Lankan IT industry
Sri Lanka’s IT industry is heading towards developing/maintaining products and providing solutions, whereas the real case should be innovation of brand new products, says Dr. Chathura De Silva, Head of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) of University of Moratuwa (UoM) He made this comment to the Business Times on the sidelines of [...]
Singapore Airlines airfares unlikely to change
Singapore Airlines would not be reducing air fares despite recent oil price dips in the global market due to the high operating expenses of the airline. The airline’s new Sri Lanka GM Richard Kwee told the Business Times that the fuel surcharge of SIA was not reduced due to the high operating costs. It was [...]
Budget 2015 – A revolutionary budget
“Statement by the Minister of Finance on Hundred Day Revolution” read the heading of the supplementary set of budget proposals presented on Thursday at the Parliament. “A Robin Hood budget” perhaps is another appropriate term to describe it. No prudent analyst would deny that the policy of the ‘Robin from Sherwood’ being engraved in this [...]
Financialisation, foreign debt and crisis
Since the end of the war, Sri Lanka’s economy is being transformed through a rapid process of financialisation. Such widespread financialisation facilitated infrastructure development, a real estate boom linked to urbanisation and expansion of credit leading to increasing indebtedness of the rural population. In short, financialisation contributed to the geographical changes of the economy through [...]
Role of Integrity, charisma and personal leadership in national development
In the absence of personal leadership, integrity ceases to exist. As Confucius succinctly drove home a point: “Strength of a nation is derived from the integrity of its homes”: a national leader cannot be behind every statistical table, transaction or agreement. The political leaders must be surrounded by intelligent people with high integrity and charisma. [...]
Sinolanka deal of Celestial Residencies opens can of worms
The deal involving the takeover of ownership of Celestial Residencies, one of the valuable and iconic properties of the failed Ceylinco Group, three years ago from the then government by Sinolanka Hotels and Spa (Pvt) Ltd has opened a can of worms, following a complaint lodged by Deputy Minister of Planning and Economic Affairs Harsha [...]
JKH to engage Govt. on casino issue in Waterfront project
John Keells Holdings (JKH) said on Friday that it will continue to engage the government over its Waterfront Properties Ltd project which contains a casino that is now not permitted under new rules. Referring to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe announcement in Parliament on Thursday that agreements entered into with the JKH group company will be [...]
2015 a ‘Once in a Generation Opportunity’ for Sustainable Development
The head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said this week that while there is tremendous volatility and turmoil around the world, 2015 presented a unique opportunity to eradicate poverty and agree on a path for sustainable development. “At UNDP, we see 2015 as a huge opportunity to advance the global sustainable development agenda,” [...]
Textured Jersey adjudged industry leader in Textile and Apparel
Textured Jersey Lanka PLC (TJL) was selected as the ‘National Winner’ in the Manufacturing Textiles, Apparel and Leather Products category at the recently concluded Business Excellence Awards (NBEA) organised by the National Chamber of Commerce. The company was also selected as the ‘National Runners-up’ for Excellence in Environmental Sustainability. TJL, in a media statement, says [...]
1,000 farming families graduate from Ceylon Tobacco project in Kilinochchi
Sustainable Agriculture Development Programme (SADP), a project by cigarette producer Ceylon Tobacco, has celebrated another milestone when 1,000 families from Kilinochchi graduated having completed the programme. SADP is the flagship CSR programme of CTC which the company in a public statement says is moving towards alleviating poverty. The successful completion of the 30 month programme [...]
International Research Conference on Management and Finance provides depth in cutting edge issues
The 9th International Research Conference on Management and Finance – 2014 (IRCMF-2014) organised by the Faculty of Management and Finance, University of Colombo, was held in December in Colombo. It addressed a gap by providing a unique opportunity for the academia and practitioners to experience an inspiring keynote speech, to listen to cutting edge research [...]
Accountable management of government-owned commercial enterprises
The appointment of President Maithripala Sirisena’s brother, Mr P.G. Kumarasingha, as Chair of one of the largest commercial enterprises that is majority-owned by the government has caused some dismay among proponents of good governance. Mr. Kumarasinghe has asked that he be judged on performance and has shown his laminated certificates to journalists, seeking to justify [...]
94 year-old coconut manufacturing firm goes for value addition to save dwindling coconuts
S. A. Silva and Sons Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, now in its 94th year and one of the Sri Lanka oldest coconut- products manufacturing companies, has stepped in to save a substantial quantity of coconuts by popularising and promoting value added, easy to use coconut products at a time when the country is facing a shortage [...]
Apparel exporters vie to regain EU GSP plus
Sri Lanka’s apparel industry has hailed moves by the President Maithripala Sirisena administration to regain the special concessions for over 70 products to the European Union under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) plus. With the new government keen on re-establishing the independent commissions and looking at adopting a home-grown mechanism to overcome the war [...]
‘Wellness tourism’ a niche market yet to be tapped, says Ayurva Traveller
Tourism has had many ups and downs in recent times in Sri Lanka and in this context there exists a market out there which has not been tapped by many travel agents in the country. People live busy lifes with a heavy workload for survival now-a-days. Getting away from the hectic life, foreign travellers look [...]
Depositors appeal to new CB Governor
All those despondent depositors who had been put to untold misery and helplessness following the collapse of registered Finance Companies, in which they had invested money, welcome the appointment of a new Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. They have enormous trust in the new Governor, namely renowned banker Arjuna Mahendran, to rectify [...]
Munchee, now largest exporter of biscuits in Sri Lanka
Munchee, the flagship brand of Ceylon Biscuits Ltd (CBL) the nation’s premier food and confectionery manufacturer, reaffirmed its leadership as the largest exporter of biscuits in Sri Lanka. Munchee accounted for more than 70 per cent of the country’s exort according to Mclloyd Business Intelligence as quoted by the company in a media release. The [...]
Executive recruitment group receives 4-star award for excellence in foreign employment services
Executive Search Pvt Ltd (ESL) part of the Mankind group which represents organisations specialising in executive recruitment search, has received the prestigious 4-star award for excellence 2014 from the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing. Foreign employment agencies across the country were rated on the efficiency [...]
Construction industry says marginally affected by budget
Sri Lanka’s construction industry says it has been marginally affected by Thursday’s budget. Surath Wickramasinghe, President – Chamber of Construction Industry, Sri Lanka (CCI), said in a statement that if the interim budget has concentrated more on the immediate benefits of the public at large under the Government’s 100 day programme to meet their essential [...]
