New aircraft
SriLankan Airlines has added a newly leased Airbus A320 aircraft, increasing its fleet to 22 aircraft. Leased for six years, the aircraft arrived in Colombo from Malaysia on Thursday. It will be put into service immediately after customisation and branding.
Sri Lankan exporters face crisis in Red Sea
Exporters in Sri Lanka are currently facing another crisis as they are hit with increased freight rates with terrorist attacks on ships via the Red Sea since shipping companies insist on charging more when some vessels re-route and insurance premiums are also set to rise that could impact buying patterns in future. Sri Lankan exporters [...]
Saudi Arabia allows Coco-peat supply for its national tree planting project
Sri Lanka Coconut Development Authority (CDA) is now actively working to obtain technical information from Saudi Arabia following the decision of the Saudi Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture recently to allow the export of Coco-peat for their massive national tree planting programme, Chairman of the Authority Prof. Roshan Perera told the Business Times. The [...]
Companies in talks with CSE to list green bonds
Certain companies have shown interest in the newly introduced green bonds of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), officials said. “We have met some of them and are discussing the forward procedure,” Nilupa Perera, Senior Vice President Broker Supervision and Listed Entity Compliance at the CSE told the Business Times recently on the sidelines of an [...]
Hoteliers still coming out of the woods on loan repayment
Sri Lanka’s hotel industry is currently coming out of the financial struggles as at least 70 per cent of them are learnt to be out of the woods and paying off their loans and only about 30 per cent are still struggling. A senior hotelier told the Business Times that only about 30 per cent [...]
Rs. 3 trillion allocated to settle debt restructuring, ISBs
Sri Lanka is in a quandary of settling massive debt restructuring and the repayment of International Sovereign Bonds (ISBs) next year with an unprecedented debt service load of US$ 5.38 billion next year finance ministry data shows. The government will have to repay the accumulated foreign debt service payment amounting $$4.38 billion and settle $ [...]
CSE to extend OTC to other debt market products
The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE)’s over the counter (OTC) platform will be extended for other products after corporate debt securities trading such as repo and perpetual bond transactions are introduced on this platform, officials said. “The debt market can be expanded to the OTC platform,” Renuke Wijayawardhane, Chief Regulatory Officer CSE told the Business Times [...]
New VAT hits software and digital service providers for local customers
Sri Lanka’s VAT rate is poised to reach a record high of 18 per cent next year hitting VAT exempted software and digital service providers which are reaping benefits from the country’s steady rise of digitalisation, IT industry sources said. Internet businesses that have boomed amid the coronavirus pandemic will be badly affected by the [...]
Two leaves and a bud
Tea: Once Sri Lanka’s biggest foreign exchange earner until a few decades back when it was overtaken by migrant worker remittances, apparel exports and tourism. However, it still is a valuable sector in Sri Lanka’s economy given the value of the supply chain, employment and caring for estate worker communities. This year is a significant [...]
Tax and corruption
We spent two days with our family friends from the Netherlands, Jacque van den Bos and his wife, Gonny, during last week. Jacque has been an investment advisor by profession and has acquired international experience by working in the EU. They were here in Sri Lanka for about three weeks, visiting different parts of the [...]
Parate execution last resort to protect depositors’ funds – SLBA
Banks exercise their legally-enshrined right to Parate Execution as a last resort and the overarching objective is the protection of depositors’ funds that have been lent to borrowers, the Sri Lanka Banks Association (SLBA) said on Friday. Responding to what it termed as lobbying by a group of defaulting borrowers espousing the removal or weakening [...]
99x: Mano steps down entrusting CEO role to Hasith Yaggahavita
99x, the global technology services’ company rooted in Sri Lanka, has announced a leadership transition, signifying a pivotal moment in its journey. After a distinguished tenure of 20 years, Founder and CEO, Mano Sekaram, will step down from the role of Chief Executive Officer, with Hasith Yaggahavita set to assume the position of CEO effective [...]
World Bank lends $250 m for Sri Lanka’s economic reforms
The World Bank on Wednesday released the second tranche of the US$500 million Sri Lanka Resilience, Stability and Economic Turnaround (RESET) Development Policy Operation (DPO), considering the continued satisfactory progress made by government with the reform programme. The RESET DPO, which provides budget support to the government was approved on June 28, 2023. This is [...]
Pintanna Plantations unveils Wallapatta Museum
Pintanna Holdings, a pioneer in the Sri Lankan Agarwood plantation sector, is making significant strides. The inauguration of the newly constructed multi-purpose building, equipped with modern technology at Pintanna Estate, coincided with the official unveiling of Pintanna’s commemorative cover launch. Additionally, the company has introduced its second Agarwood Investment Rewards to the public and valued [...]
Expansion at Rocell’s Horana Factory
Rocell, Sri Lanka’s leading producer of high-quality tile and bathware, has announced the expansion of its Horana factory. The expansion increases daily production capacity, while introducing a new selection of large format Tiles, including 1000 mm x 1000 mm, 1200 mm x 800 mm, and 800 mm x 800 mm, solidifying Rocell’s design leadership in [...]
SLT-MOBITEL Enterprise strengthens collaboration with MBSL
SLT-MOBITEL Enterprise has signed a bilateral agreement with the Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka & Finance PLC (MBSL), recently enhancing a new era of collaboration between the two organisations. The agreement was signed by Janaka Abeysinghe, CEO of SLT and Dammika Hapuhinna, CEO of MBSL at the MBSL Board Room, Colombo 3, according to an [...]