Construction expo
LED lights and other bulbs offered at an international housing and construction exhibition held at the BMICH Colombo on October 2-4. Pic by Amila Gamage
Over 45,000 migrant workers desperate to return to Sri Lanka
While 12,000 Sri Lankan migrant workers have been brought home under a humanitarian mission from 14 destination countries amidst the COVID-19 pandemic another over 45,000 workers are desperately seeking repatriation. The repatriation mission has however encountered delays owing to insufficient space at quarantine centres in Sri Lanka, insufficient health staff and other limitations, according to [...]
CB mulls report on finance companies
The Central Bank (CB) is considering to put out a report on finance companies based on its on-site examinations, officials said. “This has to be done very carefully, so as not to cause a systemic risk in the finance companies which will affect the entire financial system,” a senior CB official explained to the Business [...]
Government pumps Rs. 28 bn into rural economy
The Government is set to pump billions of rupees into the rural economy during the COVID-19 near normalcy period through ‘Sapiri Gamak’, a new community-based Rural Development Programme (RDP). It has replaced the Gamperaliya- Rapid Rural Development Programme (RRDP) of the previous regime which has already spent Rs. 20 billion out of Rs. 48 billion [...]
New rules on the way for market intermediaries, property valuations
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will be revamping a whole set of rules for the capital market along with setting guidelines for valuing listed company properties, officials said. The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) listing rules, stockbroker rules and other market intermediary rules will be overhauled, they said. The rule changes will be made for [...]
CB to draft company resolution framework
The Central Bank (CB) is drafting a company resolution framework to deal with weak bank and finance companies, officials said. This framework helps to identify such weak institutions and, before they go bankrupt, to find the modalities of paying the depositors. Now, the CB is using the Banking Act to deal with such banks but [...]
Government settles Rs. 9.6 bn of contractors and suppliers’ outstanding bills
Three hundred and three government contractors and suppliers kept waiting for a long period to get their payments for outstanding bills for the Rs. 9.6 billion worth of work done in state development projects will be getting liquidity facilities from banks soon. But commercial banks expressed concern on liquidity issues when getting refinancing facility from [...]
Going batty over nuts
Have government politicians gone nutty or batty? It seems so, by a ridiculous decision to measure a coconut and base sales on its size and circumference, a move that has drawn wide criticism, amusement and embarrassment to the governing party. According to a gazette notification issued by the Consumer Affairs Authority, a maximum retail price [...]
China after 71 years
It was the celebration of the 71st National Day of China in Colombo too in commemorating the establishment of the People’s Republic of China on October 1, 1949. The event was organised by the Sri Lanka China Society on Monday at the BMICH. At this occasion, I was invited to deliver the Keynote Speech on [...]
LANKA QR-based payment system gets ready for public launch
Smartphone-based mobile money service is now gaining momentum as part of the payments ecosystem in Sri Lanka. The Central Bank (CB)’s association with financial institutions payment networks for LANKA QR-based payments has paved the way for players to offer new solutions in this space. The plan is to promote digital transactions with commercial banks. 98 [...]
BoardPAC commemorates its 8th consecutive year of partnership with Maxis in Malaysia
BoardPAC recently commemorated its 8th consecutive year in successful partnership with Maxis, the leading converged solutions company in Malaysia. The partnership enabled BoardPAC to be recognised as the leading provider in board meeting governance automation in Malaysia, helping transform businesses through remote, convenient and secure board meetings. Leading Malaysian corporates such as Petronas, Bank Negara [...]
Ensuring uninterrupted power through Microgrids
The inauguration of the commissioning of the pilot project on Microgrid in the Moratuwa University, last week at Kingsbury Hotel, Colombo could be the turning point of ensuring uninterrupted electricity power supply to the entire country with a grant of US$1.8 million by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). This pioneering pilot project is launched by [...]
Microfinance Act to be amended to meet the current needs
The government reiterates the need of a legal framework to regulate unregulated money lending activities so that a better and more effective regulatory environment is created for money lending institutions in the future. A suggestion has been made to amend the Microfinance Act No. 6 of 2016 to suit the current development and financial issues. [...]
Lack of opportunities and many untapped markets for local mid-sized companies
While there are only a handful of Sri Lankan top conglomerates that have done well locally and have reached global markets, there are plenty of mid-sized companies, small and medium-sized enterprises, family-run businesses doing great business locally, but are unknown. Lack of expertise, the knowledge to widen the business to various markets globally, lack of [...]
Watawala Plantations, South Asia’s first RSPO certified palm oil plantation
Watawala Plantations PLC (WATA), Sri Lanka’s leading diversified agribusiness company, has reached the next milestone in its development of sustainable oil palm plantations, achieving the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification for the palm oil mill and concessions (the entire estates) in Galle District. The momentous recognition makes WATA the first plantations company in [...]
Adulteration of Ceylon Tea hurts industry
The tea traders industry is faced with a grave crisis of adulteration of Ceylon Tea by factories. “Adulteration is one of the most serious problems we are facing,” Colombo Tea Traders’ Association (CTTA) Chairman Jayantha Karunaratne said at the 126th AGM of the CTTA on September 25 at the Cinnamon Grand in Colombo. He hoped [...]
Professionals to map out strategy to stabilise businesses
Sri Lanka is known for its fair share of man–made and natural disasters but COVID-19 is perhaps the biggest challenge that the country is ever facing. Therefore it is imperative that professional bodies such as CA Sri Lanka come forward to help navigate the professional community including chartered accountants through such unchartered territories, said the [...]
99x keen to go public in any European exchange
99x, the 15 year-old technology company co-creating digital products, is keen to go public in any stock exchange in Europe, officials said. “We are interested in listing in any one of the European exchanges,” 99x Co-Founder and CEO Mano Sekaram told the Business Times. While also interested in listing in the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), [...]