Red Sea crisis impact on Sri Lanka
A Sunday Times Business Club (STBC) discussion titled “Sri Lanka in a troubled world order: Red Sea crisis in shipping” was held this week at the Movenpick Colombo, host hotel of the club. NDB is also a sponsor of the club. Seen here from left: Anura Perera, STBC President; Rohan Masakorala, CEO of Shippers’ Academy [...]
Litro to come under PUCSL after restructure
The State-Owned Enterprises Restructuring Unit (SRU) will make recommendations to the Cabinet to have a regulator for Litro Gas with the divestiture of its entities, top officials said. SRU Director General Suresh Shah told the Business Times that the SRU will be making recommendations for the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) to be [...]
Govt. suspends parate execution to protect MSMEs
Bowing to pressure from many quarters, the government has suspended the imposition of the parate execution law against micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) but the move has drawn serious concerns from banks. State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said that the Cabinet Paper will be submitted next week to the cabinet to suspend the [...]
New debt restructuring plan proposed for bond holders
Sri Lanka has submitted a new restructuring proposal to international sovereign bond holders through its financial and legal advisers Lazard and Clifford Chance as ad hoc groups’ debt relief proposal presented earlier is not consistent with the debt sustainability (DSA) targets of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), official sources said. The government rejected a proposal [...]
Thailand FTA picks exporter interest
Towards the latter part of next month, the Regional Comprehensive Economy Partnership (RCEP) will be considering Sri Lanka’s application to be included in the association, top officials said. “We sent a letter of intent to RCEP about four months ago. They are taking up this application somewhere towards the end of March,” K. J. Weerasinghe, [...]
Tourism to have a good summer this year
Hoteliers are awaiting a good summer this year with expectations of higher arrivals from key markets. Hoteliers Association President M. Shanthikumar said that the summer is “looking good” and they expect growth from a number of key markets like India, Russia and China. The Indian market is growing and here they expect an increase in [...]
SOE reform policy from next month
A state-owned Enterprise Act (SOE Act) is now being drafted to be presented to Parliament in the coming months most probably by mid this year to give legislative authority and operational effect to SOE reform policy. The government will implement the SOE reform policy, including associated government policies by March this year ensuring that the [...]
From default to recovery
From queues to recovery is Sri Lanka’s quintessential comeback story and this comment coming from a highly placed US official is something the country should be proud of. And hats off to the Sri Lankan policymakers led by President Ranil Wickremesinghe in averting a major crisis of disproportionate levels as seen in Greece or Venezuela. [...]
Political question of food prices
After hearing that carrot prices in Sri Lanka spiralled to over Rs. 2,000 a kg a few weeks ago, one of our relatives in the UK sent us a scanned copy of her shopping bill. Let me show you the prices of a few food items from that bill, converted to Sri Lankan rupees using [...]
Reforming the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB)
Sri Lanka’s electricity sector reforms need consultation from within to ensure the state enterprises receive the right breakthrough in becoming more efficient institutions. At a discussion held recently at the Chartered Accountants of Lanka auditorium a number of professionals from the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) were brought on stage by the ‘Thought Leadership Forum’ moderated [...]
ComBank stays on growth trajectory in 2023
The Commercial Bank of Ceylon Group lent Rs. 56.816 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023 at a monthly average of Rs. 18.939 billion to end the year with a loan book of Rs. 1.296 trillion, continuing its trend of strong lending growth in support of economic revival. Robust deposit growth of Rs. 109.408 billion [...]
HNB records sustainable performance in 2023
Hatton National Bank PLC (HNB) has showcased strong and sustainable performance in 2023, in all aspects namely liquidity, asset quality, capital, efficiency and profitability amidst global and local economic uncertainties. Commenting on the performance, HNB Chairman Nihal Jayawardene stated that, “We commenced the year with optimism, hoping that the worst of the financial crisis was [...]
Strong showing from Seylan Bank
Seylan Bank has reported a strong performance despite challenges in the year 2023. The bank recorded a Profit before Tax (PBT) of Rs.10.08 billion for the period under review with a 52 per cent growth over the previous year while recording a Profit after Tax (PAT) of Rs.6.26 billion for the year with a 33 [...]
St. Regis helps reduce Ceylon Tea Carbon Footprint
A game-changing world-first in the sphere of packaging for bulk teas by Sri Lanka’s St. Regis Packaging can potentially enhance the environmental credentials of Ceylon Tea on the global stage. The inventor of the Rigid-T-sack that replaced plywood chests in the bulk packaging of large leaf teas in 1996, St. Regis has received the world’s [...]
NDB 2023 year sees resilient and agile strategy
National Development Bank PLC (NDB) has demonstrated its characteristic resilience and agility in withstanding external challenges through the financial year 2023. The NDB Group posted a pre-tax profit of Rs.10.9 billion whilst at bank level pre-tax profit was Rs.10.1 billion. Profitability mirrored solid core banking performance which led to healthy improvement across key income categories. [...]
SEC organises first CPD for 2024
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) recently conducted its first Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Programme for 2024, aimed at elevating the knowledge and skills of Investment Advisors in today’s dynamic market landscape of the capital market industry. The session was focused on the new products launched by the SEC and Colombo Stock [...]
Steady 2023 year for Pan Asia Bank
Pan Asia Banking Corporation PLC has reflected a steady performance amidst multitude of adversities emerging from challenging macro-economic conditions as the bank reported its financial performance during 2023, which showed judicious portfolio management and prudency exercised in dealing with possible fallout on its asset quality in challenging times. The bank reported a Pre-tax Profit of [...]
LOLC Divi Saviya initiative garners national recognition
LOLC Holdings PLC has received a prestigious recognition from the Ministry of Education at national level, for its outstanding humanitarian endeavour, “LOLC Divi Saviya,” dedicated to enhancing the educational prospects of the nation’s children. This accolade signifies the first time a private sector entity has been honoured by the Ministry with such an esteemed national-level [...]
Sri Lanka’s Economic Reform Programme is starting to work— Keep at it for a Full Recovery
Sri Lanka is emerging from an unprecedented economic crisis that imposed significant hardships on its people, especially the most vulnerable. We saw some of these effects in our own travels around the country, as well as some signs of recovery, as we work to help rebalance the economy. The economy grew 1.6 per cent from [...]