Renewable energy to the rescue
Heavyweights in the renewable energy (RE) industry said this week that if all the proposed RE projects were fast-tracked the country wouldn’t be facing an energy crisis. From left at the media briefing: Manjula Perera, Thusitha Peris, Lasith Wimalasena, Chamil Silva and Kushan Jayasuriya. Pic by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
Sri Lanka Govt. mulls lifting ban on herbicides
The government is now reconsidering lifting the ban on herbicides while it is yet to take a policy decision on fertiliser subsidy payments to the tea sector. Glyphosate continues to be banned in Sri Lanka which is a herbicide available at a lower cost compared to others available in the market. Plantation Minister Ramesh Pathirana [...]
Massive loss from SL’s hasty shift to organic farming
Sri Lanka’s unplanned shift to organic farming from chemical based agriculture practices has triggered a man-made crop disaster and incurred a massive loss of around US$1.04 billion, official provisional estimates and data of trading economic indicator models showed. The total cost (fertiliser and rice imports) from the government’s attempts to transform the country’s chemical fertiliser [...]
False social media msgs’ drop Colombo shares
Colombo stocks recorded marginal losses for four days straight this week with declining turnover which stockbrokers attributed to deceptive social media endorsements by certain high networth investors leading the Twitter, WhatsApp ‘game’. “There was misleading information on fundamentally string stocks,” a stock broking company CEO said. They were informing retailers to sell out and make [...]
Govt. tightens domestic borrowing
The Finance Ministry has tightened domestic borrowing while controlling expenditure of ministries, departments and state institutions owing to its rising debt payments this year. As per the existing budgetary estimates, the government debt to GDP ratio is to decline to 101.7 per cent of GDP in 2022 from 102.8 per cent in 2021. The Sri [...]
CEB reactivates emergency power purchases
The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), in the wake of a energy crisis triggered by a fuel shortage affecting the operation of thermal power plants, has decided to re-activate emergency power purchases from privately-owned plants as a temporary solution. It has been decided to go for 300MW of emergency power purchases from the private sector soon [...]
More dollars please!!
I was tired of the rantings by the trio as they often – week in week out – discuss the problems in the country – queues for gas and milk powder, shortage of other essentials etc. It’s depressing to listen to these negative developments over and over again. However, this week there was a pleasant [...]
Forex for “hand-to-mouth”
Last Sunday “Raju” had sent me a text message with a brief note that surprised me. His name is Dr. Ramaraju Venuthurupalli – one of my Indian friends who retired recently after serving as a Professor of Economics at the University of Delhi. Although his brief surprised him and shattered all his imaginations about Sri [...]
CSE to change preferential IPO share allotments
Heavy retailer investor displeasure over recent allotments in initial public offerings (IPOs) saw the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) revisiting the preferential allotment rules for these listings, officials said. “We are looking into this area; the changes will have to go through a stakeholder consultative process, Rajeeva Bandaranaike, CEO CSE told the Business Times. Viraj Dayaratna, [...]
Tremendous opportunities for local businesses in Turkey
While bilateral trade between Sri Lanka and Turkey had reached US$175 million by the end of 2021, there is immense potential to diversify trade between both countries. Turkey maintains the first or second position of the largest importer of Sri Lanka teas in recent times. Turkey also imports rubber products, metal and diamonds from Sri [...]
New initiative to help Sri Lankan SMEs grow
Year 2021 ended with an onset of a transformational endeavour for small and medium enterprises (SME) – namely the Sri Lanka Small and Medium Enterprises (SLSME), a fully immersed initiative set up to enable Sri Lankan SME development through value creation by means of adopting the business model canvas for innovation (BMC). It has been [...]
Fernando at the helm of SL Chamber of Garment Exporters
Rainbow Clothing Managing Director Bandula Fernando was elected President of the Sri Lanka Chamber of Garment Exporters (SLCGE) at the 26th AGM held recently in Colombo. The SLCGE was formed in 1992 with the primary objective of promoting and fostering the growth of small and medium scale apparel exporters in Sri Lanka and currently represents [...]
Daraz to introduce new apps, expand business
E-commerce platform Daraz will be launching several new applications in the coming months to broad-base its product offerings on the back of unveiling its new logo. The new logo denotes a shift to a more personal experience that will allow them to create greater connectivity between buyers and sellers on our platform, Rakhil Fernando, Managing [...]
SLIC records high GWP achievement in 2021
Sri Lanka Insurance (SLIC), the country’s top insurance entity, has reported a staggering combined Gross Written Premium (GWP) of Rs. 43 billion in 2021, amidst turbulent times. In 2021 SLIC reported 14 per cent growth in life insurance premium rising to Rs.21.9 billion whilst general insurance reported 5.4 per cent growth in premium at Rs. [...]
Strong performance by JKH; EBITDA up 126% to Rs.9.53 bln in Q3
The leisure business of John Keells Holdings (JKH) which suffered badly during the lockdown and COVID-19-related impacts, recorded a significant turnaround in 3rd Q 2021/22 with EBITDA recorded at Rs.1.23 billion compared to a negative Rs.1.01 billion in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. This turnaround has continued in the month of January 2022 [...]
Energy projects proposed some years back would have averted major power crisis: former BOI chief
If Sri Lanka had approved many energy projects that were pending a few years ago, the country wouldn’t be facing a major energy crisis, a former top public official has said. “During my time at the Board of Investment (BOI), there were five companies that had made proposals for investment in LNG power generation during [...]
Ceylon specialty coffee in the spotlight in the export market
While Ceylon Tea and Ceylon Cinnamon have taken the brand name of Sri Lanka globally, Ceylon specialty coffee is also seeing a huge potential in the export market. As Sri Lanka has the expertise and the capability to produce home grown specialty coffee, a lot more work has to be done to meet the export [...]
Renewable energy to beat blackouts in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is today finding it hard to pay for imported fossil fuels to light up homes across the country whereas renewable energy sources can at a lower cost generate required electricity but state agencies are stalling these efforts. As a result local investors are moving to South Africa to light up those homes. Wind [...]
Dialog Enterprise powers national industrial awards
Dialog Enterprise, the corporate solutions arm of Dialog Axiata PLC, has announced its Title Sponsorship of the National Industry Exhibition and Awards Ceremony 2022, with Dialog Finance PLC and Dialog genie powering the event as the Official Payment Partner and FinTech Partner. Organised by the Industrial Development Board (IDB) under the auspices of the Ministry [...]
Impending fertiliser crisis for Yala
Global prices of fertiliser is currently decreasing as a result of which importers want to stock up ahead of the next Yala season but with no cash in hand and banks refusing to part with dollars, Sri Lanka is likely to face a fertiliser shortage once again. “We are struggling with the banks to try [...]
Galle to become tourism hub
The Government on Wednesday unveiled plans to develop Sri Lanka’s Galle port, a UNESCO heritage site, as a tourism hub. In this respect authorities will construct the breakwater, a cruise terminal among other facilities with the entire project value estimated at approximately US$175 million open for development through the Expression of Interest (EOI) and Request [...]
Ukraine troubles spells uncertainty for SL tourism
Sri Lanka has lately been dependent on its Eastern European traveller and one of the key markets is Ukraine but there is uncertainty whether arrivals could be impacted due to a political crisis in that country. One of the key travel agents engaged in generating traffic from this region said that they had not yet [...]
Green bonds taking shape
Several government institutions are banding together to launch green bonds to raise capital while meeting the country’s climate commitments and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Green Bonds are instruments where the proceeds or an equivalent amount will be entirely applied in part or in full to finance or re-finance, new and/or existing eligible green [...]
FTZs say “No” to 2-hr power cuts
Investors have asked authorities to not impose a two hour electricity disruption in the Free Trade Zones (FTZs) that could adversely impact meeting export targets requiring uninterrupted electricity supply. The Free Trade Zone Manufacturers Association (FTZMA) in a letter dated January 28, to Power and Energy Minister Gamini Lokuge stated that the proposed two hour [...]
Expo records best-ever performance in 3QFY2021
Expolanka Holdings PLC has delivered its strongest ever quarterly financial performance during the three months ended 31st December 2021 (3QFY2021). Compared with the third quarter of the previous financial year (3QFY2020), Expo delivered a Group Revenue of Rs. 204.9 billion, up sharply by 254 per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth. Similarly, group Gross Profit for the [...]
Sanjaya Bandara, new President of CA Sri Lanka
Sanjaya Bandara, a leading figure in the Sri Lankan accounting fraternity, was ceremoniously inducted as the 26th President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) on Monday. He presently serves as the Head of Assurance at B. R. De Silva & Co. He is seen in the picture delivering his [...]
ComBank excels in Dhaka
Commercial Bank Bangladesh, Commercial Bank of Ceylon’s largest overseas operation, has been adjudged the ‘Most Sustainable Bank in Bangladesh’ at the close of 2021, during which the bank was named ‘Best Foreign Bank in Bangladesh’ by two independent bodies and retained its ‘AAA’ credit rating. The ‘Most Sustainable Bank in Bangladesh’ award was presented at [...]