Protests across Sri Lanka
There were protests across Sri Lanka on Friday demanding the government to resign. Picture shows a protest by Central Bank workers outside its headquarters in Fort. Pic by Akila Jayawardana.
Apparel buyers pulling out of crisis-hit Colombo
Agitation at the factories disrupting export orders is the latest addition to the litany of grievances faced by manufacturers at the free trade zones as buyers pull more and more orders out of Sri Lanka. Amidst the resurgence of electricity interruptions fuelled by a lack of fuel to power generators, the zones are facing an [...]
Banks struggle to secure funding lines
Sri Lankan banks are struggling to secure dollar funding lines amidst the crippling forex crunch in the country and a junk rating. At least six banks said the funding lines by Development Financial Institutions (DFIs) have dried up or these institutions are waiting on the sidelines to make a commitment after the intended bailout from [...]
Heavy losses at CPC from spot purchases of fuel
The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) has lost millions of US dollars in fuel purchases by resorting to spot buying from the market even though there is a US$ 500 million Indian credit line to import petrol and diesel. The over-payments for fuel consignments and demurrage for the delay in clearing shipments due to difficulty in [...]
Usable forex reserves slide to $50 m from $103 m
Sri Lanka’s usable foreign exchange reserves have slipped to US$50 million at present which is barely sufficient for one month of imports, from $103 million at the beginning of April this year, Finance Ministry data indicated. Forex reserves remained at $1.9 billion in April 2022, Finance Minister Ali Sabry told parliament this week adding however [...]
Tourism breathes fire
Just as Aldoris, the choon-paan karaya, came down the lane with music blaring from his tuk-tuk, the phone at home rang. It was the know-all neighbour Haramanis of broken English fame. “I shay…..how are you,” he asked. “Fine, fine…..it’s been a long time since we last spoke,” I replied. “Well, we met at Antonio’s grocery [...]
Investors need confidence that Sri Lanka is a safe choice for investment!
The Sri Lankan economy is in the grips of a debt crisis. Sri Lanka’s debt-to-GDP ratio is above 100 per cent. However, the same can be said for many countries such as France, Japan, and the US. This begs the question what is really hurting the Sri Lankan economy? Yes, the currency played a role. [...]
COYLE-led professional associations present plan to ‘Restart Sri Lanka’
Sri Lanka is facing the worst socio-economic crisis in its history, a situation that has arisen due to mismanagement. These issues have also been exacerbated by macro-economic factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic downturn, according to a group of business associations. A group of professional organisations, headed by the Chamber Of [...]
Dollar crunch pause tourism promos
Sri Lanka Tourism has opted to scale down its presence at the Arabian Travel Mart (ATM) and has not planned out any other promotions except on social media and under the circumstances, small businesses are the first impacted. The tourism industry is currently struggling to attend travel fairs and has not even confirmed any future [...]
Govt. imports rice despite bumper domestic harvest
The Government has spent millions of dollars for the importation of over 140,000 metric tonnes of rice from countries including Myanmar at the end of last year at a time when the country had sufficient stocks to meet the demand. A stock of 147,091 metric tonnes has been imported during the period of November- December [...]
New laws to expedite renewable energy projects
New laws will be introduced to fast-track the approval process for setting up renewable energy projects which will change the game for Sri Lanka, Minister of Finance Ali Sabry said. “The Ministry of Power and Energy is working on laws to expedite renewable energy investments,” he told the Business Times on Thursday. He added that [...]
Construction contractors of public projects in dire straits
Sri Lanka’s construction contractors involved in public infrastructure and building projects are now in a difficult situation with the Finance Ministry’s decision to suspend almost all such projects in bid to curtail capital expenditure, several leading contractors complained, adding that many are still to receive their due payments from the Treasury for completed and ongoing [...]
BoardPAC becomes Carbon Neutral
BoardPAC, the Sri Lanka-founded global leader in virtual board meeting automation, has become carbon neutral, achieving a key milestone in its Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) journey. The operations of the award-winning multinational with a presence in more than 40 countries were audited to the specifications of the ISO 14064 – 1:2018 standard and certified [...]
Political stability key to economic recovery: CB
The Central Bank has warned that economy recovery and current efforts to restore Sri Lanka’s economic stability rests on “reassuring social coherence and restoring political stability and an enduring political will, to take this reform agenda forward”. In its annual report for 2021 released last week, it said ongoing efforts to resolve the economic issues, [...]
Flaws in the building construction sector
The crisis in Sri Lanka has become a hot topic not only here, but in the region as well. While this is obviously due to mismanagement of the economy as a whole, this article is an attempt to analyse the building construction and related activities by the state that would have contributed to the financial [...]
Treasury coffers empty in Sri Lanka, biz group says
Taxes paid by the business community helps the government to pay salaries of state employees and implement budget proposals without any hinderance. But today the country is bankrupt and fallen into an abyss. “We have only US$50 million in the Treasury just sufficient to import a shipment of gasoline. Bankruptcy has led to a state [...]
SL economic strain completely unnecessary
Sri Lanka will overcome the economic hurdles, but it is completely unnecessary, a major emerging market fund manager says. Mattias Martinsson, CEO and CIO of Tundra Fonder in Stockholm told the Business Times on Thursday that it is hard for him to comprehend how the crisis in Sri Lanka panned out. He added that international [...]
Help migrant workers to own a house/property
Sri Lanka desperately needs foreign currency and we witness on a daily basis the Finance Minister and the Central Bank Governor pleading to Sri Lanka expatriate workers to send money through recognised banks to strengthen the state coffers. I suggest to these two gentlemen, instead of pleading without bringing anything to the table, why don’t [...]
New governor must leave FIU alone to do their job
It is generally known that the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the Central Bank decides to act depending on the party in power. When the UNP was in power there was a tendency for them to go behind the culprits known to be SLFPers or vice versa. This is clearly seen from their actions. When [...]