Black protest
Black flags were seen outside the headquarters building of the Bank of Ceylon (BOC) on Thursday as a sign of protest by trade unions over recent management changes at the premier state banks. Unions at the BOC and People’s Bank are protesting over the removal by the government of their two General Managers. Pic by [...]
Some tax relief in force but questions over legality
Recent sweeping tax relief granted by the government has triggered confusion as some tax reduction and removals are currently implemented administratively without the required parliamentary approval, eminent experts in taxation said. The new administration has not presented tax amendment bills in parliament and it has not been enacted up to now, but the Inland Revenue [...]
New laws to curb fake online biz
New laws will be enacted to regulate the flourishing online shopping market that has been lately littered with fraudsters selling counterfeit products. Samantha Karunarathne, Director Competition Promotion, Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) said that current rules lack the regulatory teeth necessary to stop online manipulative practices. She said from last July, some 150 complains pertaining to [...]
STBC discussion on coronavirus impact
The Sunday Times Business Club (STBC) is organising a panel discussion on “Coronavirus and its impact on business” on March 24 at the Hilton Colombo. Experts drawn from health, tourism and trade sectors will address members of the club and their guests on the impact of the coronavirus on business, investment and trade. The epidemic [...]
VSIS to widen Dialog offering in Sri Lanka
Dialog Axiata PLC, in a bid to widen its enterprise service offering in Sri Lanka and across the Axiata footprint in Asia, recently entered into an agreement to acquire the Systems Integration (SI) business of privately owned V S (Vidya Shilpa) Information Systems (Pvt) Ltd which has been named VSIS Enterprise Solutions (VES). “The acquisition [...]
Outbound travel agents blown away by coronavirus
While low cost carriers like Malaysia’s Malido or Thai Lion have either cut down flights or completely stopped flying into and out of Colombo due to diminishing load factors, the bigger East Asian airlines are maintaining flights. The coronavirus has badly dented the local travel industry with several outbound agents reporting cancelled bookings of incentive [...]
No respecter of persons
The coronavirus is no respecter of persons. It strikes anyone, anywhere and particularly in cold climates. That’s why it seems to have affected countries with lower temperatures, while those in the tropics have largely been spared. More than 70 countries have been affected by varying degrees, the biggest being China – where the virus originated [...]
Ask Siri, the digital assistant
Where are iPhones made? Perhaps, the best person to ask that question is “Siri” – the talking digital assistant in iPhone. But you need to ask the “right” question not to confuse that assistant: “Where were you manufactured?” “Siri” will give you this answer: “Like it says on the box… I was designed by Apple [...]
Subway Sri Lanka launches national re-franchise scheme
Subway, the American Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) with over 44,000 restaurants worldwide, has announced the launch of its comprehensive national re-franchising programme and entering into partnership with business entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka. With the brand now established, Subway Sri Lanka has received a growing demand from entrepreneurs that are looking at owning and operating a [...]
SL is best in valuations; thinly insulated from coronavirus
The coronavirus (COVID-19) has brought about risks that rattled foreign investments, with analysts saying that near-term business activity and consumption is expected to decline as many people rein in their movements as a precautionary measure, impacting emerging market growth. So far, data shows that most broad emerging-markets indexes lost between 6 per cent and 7 [...]
High level of poverty exists in the Northern Province
Although the conflict in the Northern Province ended almost 10 years ago there is still a high level of poverty and low level of productivity especially in the farming and fisheries sectors with soaring unemployment. This was stated by Dr. Thomas Kring, Chief Technical Advisor of the ILO at a workshop held at the Movenpick [...]
Sri Lanka finance companies under regulatory pressure: Fitch
Sri Lanka’s finance and leasing sector will face added pressure for consolidation as deadlines for the implementation of tougher capitalisation requirements approach in 2021, says Fitch Ratings. “We view further consolidation of the sector as positive for financial sector stability in Sri Lanka, but the process could be impeded by a challenging operating environment,” the [...]
Drop in milk collection jams butter production
The drought has seen a drastic decline in milk production, which has made manufacturers rethink certain products like butter. Low rainfall has seen unfavourable grazing conditions which led to animal feed unavailability impacting milk production amid suppliers being under pressure. This milk shortage in the market has got suppliers focusing mainly on milk giving a [...]
New Director General at Board of Investment (BOI)
Sanjaya Mohottala assumed duties on Monday as the new Director General of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI). A BOI statement said that Mr. Mohottala was a Managing Director and Partner at the Boston Consulting Group where he was responsible for corporate development, principal investors and private equity practices and led the Transport [...]
IMF, World Bank jointly offer support against coronavirus
The IMF and the World Bank Group has said they stand ready to help, jointly, member countries address the human tragedy and economic challenge posed by the COVID-19 virus. “We are engaged actively with international institutions and country authorities, with special attention to poor countries where health systems are the weakest and people are most [...]
Young undergraduate creates ‘cream milk tea butter’ product
While there has been a far cry that the country’s universities are lackadaisical and fail to produce employable and creative graduates, in the yesteryear those coming out of universities were considered excellent. At present there are some universities that understood the development and commercial strategies of the country and in fact gear their undergraduates to [...]
SLT group revenue crosses Rs. 86 bn, PAT grows by 28% in FY 2019
Sri Lanka Telecom PLC (SLT) concluded the financial year 2019 on a high note, with 28 per cent YoY growth in Profit After Tax (PAT) at Rs. 6.3 billion. The impressive growth was strongly underpinned by the increase in revenues by 6 per cent YoY recorded at Rs. 86 billion. “The group’s robust plans directed [...]
Uber Eats to empower 1,000 Sri Lankan women in 2020
Uber Eats, to mark International Women’s Day, this week pledged to scale up the number of Sri Lankan women entrepreneurs on its platform from 100 to over 1,000, by the end of 2020 as part of its Diviyata Diriya initiative, which enables equal access to flexible economic opportunities for women and other marginalised communities. Since [...]
CB insists banks to pass on benefit of policy rate cut to borrowers
The Monetary Board of the Central Bank has decided at the March 4 meeting to maintain the Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) and the Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) at their current levels of 6.50 per cent and 7.50 per cent, respectively. The Central Bank (CB) has insisted commercial banks to extend the benefit of [...]
IFC, CSE promote ‘Gender Equality’ in Sri Lanka
For the fifth consecutive year, IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, partnered with the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) to ring the opening bell for trading in celebration of International Women’s Day 2020. An annual global gender initiative, Ring the Bell encourages the private sector to expand opportunities for women as leaders, employees, entrepreneurs, [...]
BoC branches in lightning strike on Friday
Although the bank trade unions took a decision to suspend their planned strike action following a discussion with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Thursday evening, the Bank of Ceylon (BoC) branches countrywide were closed on Friday as the employees went ahead with the planned one day strike. The day-long strike was planned against the government’s attempt [...]
COVID-19 outbreak to have significant economic impact on developing Asia-ADB
MANILA, PHILIPPINES — The ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak will have a significant impact on developing Asian economies through numerous channels, including sharp declines in domestic demand, lower tourism and business travel, trade and production linkages, supply disruptions, and health effects, according to a new analysis by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) released on Friday. [...]
Future of the world depends on its young generation
The future of the world in the sustainable development sphere lies with young people, reiterated Robert Juhkam, Resident Representative, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), when he said that the Secretary General (SG) of the United Nations has mentioned that the world’s greatest source is its young people. He was speaking at the Annual Youth Dialogue [...]
Trade and budget deficits
Prof. Sirimal Abeyratne’s (SA) write-up on Trade and Budget deficit which appeared in last week’s Business Times indicates that Sri Lanka has been experiencing a persistent trade deficit (TD). According to the Central Bank Annual reports the trade deficit in Sri Lanka, as indicated in the table, during the last five years, has continued to [...]
3 banks to raise capital this year
At least three banks will have to comply with the Central Bank (CB)’s minimum capital requirements and resort to raising capital this year, banking sector analysts say. Union Bank, Pan Asia Bank and Amana Takaful Bank will either have to resort to a rights issue or a private placement to raise capital, they note. This [...]
K. Sivagananathan Memorial Oration and awards on Tuesday
The 18th Annual K. Sivagananathan Memorial Awards and oration will be held on Tuesday, March 10. This Annual Memorial Oration and Awards ceremony is conducted jointly by the Association of Professional Bankers of Sri Lanka (APB) and the K. Sivagananathan Memorial Trust (KSMT), in commemoration of the late Mr. K. Sivagananathan, who was an innovative [...]
SLIC to adopt environmentally friendly waste management system
Sri Lanka Insurance (SLIC), the country’s leading local insurer, has joined with ICC Smart Eco Solutions to bring an environmentally sustainable waste management system. The project was kicked off last week at a media conference held at the SLIC auditorium with the participation of SLIC Chairman Jagath Wellawatta, SLIC CEO Chandana L. Aluthgama, Director of [...]
SriLankan Airlines unveils latest brand video ‘Ode to Paradise’
SriLankan Airlines, the country’s national carrier, revolutionising its brand building endeavours launched its latest brand video ‘Ode to Paradise’ at PVR Cinemas, One Galle Face recently. The production titled ‘Ode to Paradise’ revisits the fond memories of ‘Blue Waters’ melody through a modern take, featuring a lineup of Sri Lanka’s well-loved icons such as Jacqueline [...]
Shift to public sector from private sector
This week there is a big exodus of trained ‘employed’ graduates from the private sector (mainly SMEs) to accept government jobs. These graduates have worked in the private sector sometimes for several years, undergone various training and are making useful contributions to the economy. They are now simply abandoning their jobs merely in order to [...]
Munchee event
The ‘Little Imaginators’ programme launched by Munchee to commemorate last year’s World Children’s Day helped award-winning writer Sybil Wettasinghe set a new world record by writing a book with the most number of alternative endings. After receiving the certificate to authenticate the world record at an event held at the Nelum Pokuna, Colombo, Ms. Wettasinghe [...]
Lighting a lamp
Walking into the shady house in the heart of Colombo, one is invariably greeted by Bailey, the friendliest dog you could ever come across. “He is a stray. My wife found him in Hanwella, by the side of the road,” the owner of this beautiful abode, Gamini Wickramasinghe says descending down the spiral stairway. Everything [...]
Banks disburse Rs. 120 bn among the affected tourism sector
Sri Lanka’s commercial banks have disbursed Rs.120 billion among tourism sector personnel and institutions affected by bomb attacks targeting churches and luxury hotels in Colombo on Easter Sunday last year, a senior Central Bank (CB) official disclosed. Deputy Governor of the CB, H. A. Karunaratne told a media conference in Colombo on Thursday that the [...]
Huawei, Moratuwa University to enhance ICT Knowledge Transformation
Huawei Sri Lanka and University of Moratuwa (UOM) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enable the educated and talented youth in Sri Lanka to further enhance their skills in the ICT domain and to be competitive in the ever growing ICT industry. This is part of Huawei’s long-term digital inclusion initiative – TECH4ALL [...]
Saluting the women of Sri Lanka
Women are faced with the challenge of building through their own initiatives and they must ensure that they remain ahead of everyone else in recognising both the role as well as the aspirations of women, according to Indira Senanayake Kulatilake, Past Chairperson of the Women’s Chamber of Industry and Commerce. In a statement to mark [...]
Ad competition amongst universities generates lot of creative ideas
The Department of Marketing, Faculty of Management and Finance, University of Ruhuna, has launched for the first time ever in Sri Lanka – “AdCon” – an advertising-focused inter-university competition where undergraduates of all the universities were involved and 300 students among them were selected for the final round. The grand finale of the awarding ceremony [...]
Ambeon Holdings gets ‘Most Innovative Company’ award from Global Banking and Finance Review
Ambeon Holdings PLC, a medium sized diversified conglomerate, was recently adjudged as the ‘Most Innovative Company’ in Sri Lanka for the year 2019 by Global Banking and Finance Review – a leading financial and banking magazine in the UK. The group was recognised and conferred this prestigious award for being future centric, embracing technology, inculcating [...]
AIA inspires students to study insurance
AIA Insurance has congratulated Sajini Hansamali Gunasena who topped the batch for the degree in Insurance and Valuation from the Wayamba University. Wayamba University of Sri Lanka is the only campus in the country to offer a degree in Insurance and Valuation. Eleven years ago, AIA partnered with the university to recognise the best amongst [...]
World Bank announces upto $12 bn immediate support for COVID-19 country response
WASHINGTON – As COVID-19 reaches more than 60 countries, the World Bank Group is making available an initial package of up to $12 billion in immediate support to assist countries coping with the health and economic impacts of the global outbreak. This financing is designed to help member countries take effective action to respond to [...]
Abolishing WHT and plight of senior citizens
The new government of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced a series of tax reductions which brought relief to many, but unfortunately, much heart-burn for us, senior citizens. The large majority of senior citizens are totally depending on the interest income we receive from our life-time savings to spend the evening of our lives without being a [...]
Aitken Spence Logistics emerges as integrated port and terminal logistics operator of 2020
Aitken Spence Maritime and Freight Logistics was adjudged the “Integrated Port and Terminal Logistics Operator of the Year 2020” at the prestigious Global Ports Forum Awards ceremony held in Dubai on February 26. The primary objective of the Global Ports Forum Awards is to recognise the most valuable contributions made by the organisations and professionals [...]