Hard times
Hard times call for desperate measures. Amila Siriwardene from Matara, who owns a clothes shop at Dehiwela, was seen selling clothes from his car near the Sri Jayawardenapura hospital at Talawathugoda. He says he has regular customers through this process which he started two years ago. Pic by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
Govt. faces gigantic task of enhancing revenue with narrow tax base
The government’s failure to achieve its one million target on new tax files this year will make it difficult to raise Rs.1,080 billion in 2024 from taxes on income and profit, economic experts warned. Sri Lanka’s tax base has narrowed to a very low level following the introduction of major changes in tax policy in [...]
WindForce PLC to consolidate projects in SL
WindForce PLC, Sri Lanka’s largest renewable energy company, will be focusing on projects at hand in Sri Lanka for the next two years while welcoming the unbundling and restructuring of the energy sector, its Managing Director Manjula Perera told the Business Times. The company, with 245 megawatts (MW) of installed renewable energy (RE) amidst a [...]
Election year budgetary allocation for public sector overlays actual expense
Sri Lanka’s election-year budget 2024 salary expenditure has overlapped the actual salary bill exposing discrepancies in financial allocations, several economic experts disclosed. Details in the annexure of public expenditure and revenue collection measures have to be revisited to arrive at a final conclusion relating to this incomplete budget, they said. Public sector employees are to [...]
Dozen entities eye Hilton
Nearly a dozen entities have responded to the Expression of Interests (EOIs) on Hotel Developers Lanka Ltd (HDL), owning company of Hilton Colombo, the Business Times reliably learns. A large Sri Lankan conglomerate and the Melwa Group are among the host of local companies, while there are about five foreign entities that have made bids [...]
Minimum Rs.1000 wage hike in factories
Factories in Sri Lanka will be increasing salaries of workers by a minimum of Rs.1000 in the coming months which for the first time has not received the traditional endorsement of the Board of Investment (BOI). Private sector factories in the BOI zones have agreed to bring about a wage revision by a minimum of [...]
Distilleries acquires HEINEKEN’s local beer business
Heineken International B.V. (HEINEKEN) signed an agreement with Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka PLC (DCSL) on Friday selling all its shares in HEINEKEN Lanka Ltd The agreement also provides Trademark Licence Agreements for HEINEKEN’s international brand portfolio in Sri Lanka comprising Heineken®, Tiger and Anchor. In a media release, Jacco van der Linden, Regional President [...]
Driving an entrepreneurship culture
Aldoris, the choon-paan karaya, had an interesting topic to discuss just as he doled out warm maalu paans to the trio at the gate. “Magey massina aluth podi viyaparayak patan aragena asarum karapu elavalu saha palathuru geval walata genath denna (My cousin has started a small, new business selling packed vegetables and fruits which can [...]
Debt for debt and Budget 2024
Budget 2024 is a good one. And it suits much better for a high-performing Sri Lanka under normal circumstances than for a crisis-ridden Sri Lanka like the one we live today. It is quite possible that we have already forgotten our status of living in a crisis-ridden economy in the last two years. Sri Lanka [...]
Govt. accords priority to change the fiscal rules: Finance Ministry Secy
The government has accorded priority to change the fiscal rules with the aim of strengthening financial management by avoiding an incentive to make impractical revenue forecasts and prevent changes to the size of the budget, Finance Ministry Secretary Mahinda Siriwardena said at a virtual expert panel forum this week. The 2024 budget is directed towards [...]
Not an election budget
Corporate leader were not averse to this year’s budget saying that it is good, given the dire circumstances that the country is embroiled with, and the challenges before the nation. Reiterating the government’s aim to tighten the tax administration to enhance tax collection, President Ranil Wickremesinghe delivering the budget speech on Monday highlighted agriculture modernisation, [...]
SMEs seek to devise selection criteria for beneficiaries of 2024 budget facility
Sri Lanka’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) hit by COVID-19 and the economic crisis are currently struggling for survival – while many others have shut down all together. Some 70 per cent of around 1.3 million SMEs with 2.2 million employees contributing to more than 50 per cent of the country’s GDP are now in [...]
Nepalese bankers visit People’s Bank
Branch Managers of Nepali commercial banks recently undertook an exposure visit to People’s Bank. The visit, which took place on November 7 aimed to facilitate knowledge exchange and foster cross-border collaborations in the realm of credit management. The focus of their visit was to delve into People’s Bank’s credit policies, risk management frameworks, and the [...]
Sampath Bank gearing up for the future
Sampath Bank has recorded profit before tax (PBT) of Rs. 22 billion and profit after tax (PAT) of Rs. 12.3 billion for the nine months ended 30th September 2023, reporting a growth of 136.4 per cent and 71.5 per cent respectively against the financial figures reported during the corresponding period in 2022. In a media [...]
ComBank posts strong Q3 balance sheet growth
A heightened emphasis on lending has seen the Commercial Bank Group increase gross loans and advances by Rs.51.404 billion in the third quarter of 2023 at a monthly average of Rs.17.135 billion, growing its loan book by 4.33 per cent over three months to Rs.1.239 trillion and reversing the trend of the first half of [...]
Kahawatte Plantations wins at international tea event
Kahawatte Plantations’ Endane Special BOP 1 tea has been ‘highly’ commended at the renowned Leafies International Tea Academy Award 2023. The Leafies celebrate the world’s finest loose-leaf teas and bring primary tea producers’ exposure to a global tea-focused market. Endane Special BOP 1 tea, stood out among 320 teas from across the globe at the [...]
Resilience from Hemas in Q2 2023/24 performance
Hemas Holdings PLC (HHL) has posted a cumulative group revenue of Rs. 59 billion in the first six months of 2023/24, a 13.5 per cent growth over previous year. Amidst the increasing strain on operating expenses, the group’s operating profit and earnings for the period experienced a marginal growth of 4.1 per cent and 3.7 [...]