Veteran trade unionist
Veteran trade unionist Anton Marcus (centre) with Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and Robert Reid, former President/Gen. Secretary of First Trade Union, New Zealand (left) at a ceremony in Colombo to mark Mr. Marcus’s 50 years in the trade union movement. A book written by journalist Kusal Perera to mark the occasion was also released. Pic [...]
Sri Lanka to declare ‘end to bankruptcy’ next week
By Bandula Sirimanna Sri Lanka is to declare ‘end to bankruptcy’ next week following an agreement reached with bilateral creditors and private bond holders on external debt restructuring at the end of second round of talks with them, highly informed official sources confirmed. The government will sign a MoU with the official creditor committee of [...]
Shortfall in imports triggers cooking oil shortage
By Bandula Sirimanna Sri Lanka edible oil imports have dropped to very low level with no shipments in the pipeline due to high freight charges, sharply pushing up prices, official sources confirmed. It will decline to zero in coming months creating a shortage of edible oil such as palm oil vegetable, seed oil, crude and [...]
Rubber industry in dire crisis
By Sunimalee Dias Sri Lanka’s rubber industry has been making severe losses as production is low due to the leaf and pesta disease and costs surpass net sale prices and the sector is complaining it has no money to increase wages to their plantation workers. The leaf disease has resulted up to a 40 per [...]
IT biz staff attrition drops to pre-pandemic times
By Duruthu Edirimuni Chandrasekera Staff attrition levels in the IT businesses have dropped down to pre pandemic levels as per latest industry data, industry experts said. While the country’s economy and political stability have somewhat helped, the oversupply of tech talent in Europe and other Western countries is impacting the hiring, Hasith Yaggahavita – CEO [...]
Inept procedures/Govt. officials stalling SOE restructuring
By Duruthu Edirimuni Chandrasekera, Cumbersome processes and lethargy of state sector officials are stalling the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) restructuring for multiple reasons, sources said. According to them most of these processes are stuck at project committees where government officials sit on the boards. “Especially the Hilton, Litro Gas, and Sri Lanka Telecom are stuck in [...]
Confusion on free-visa for seven countries
By Raj Moorthy While tourists from seven countries are eligible to obtain a free-visa to Sri Lanka, the country’s border control has implemented two methods allowing them to obtain the authorisation to enter Sri Lanka. This allows some tourists to pay and some not. One way is, tourists from India, China, Russia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand [...]
“Imputed rental income”
This week I had the opportunity to communicate with a friend of mine living in the UK. During our conversation, I remembered to ask him about his property tax payment. I knew that there were property taxes in the UK and other European countries. He answered: “Here, it is called Council Tax. We live in [...]
Taxing the people
Tax is a sensitive subject in Sri Lanka. The moment a government talks of a new tax, the public goes into overdrive to condemn it, the people get agitated and criticism flows across the public domain. Don’t get me wrong. Taxing people and services is a right in any democracy to run an administration, as [...]
Modernised IRD and Revenue Authority to change fiscal landscape
By Bandula Sirimanna The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) is currently undergoing a modernisation process to support recent tax policy reforms moving towards the automation of its core activities in a bid to improve efficiency, transparency and financial flexibility, Finance Ministry sources said. The online portal is being upgraded to simplify individual income tax filing and [...]
ComBank biggest lender to Sri Lanka’s SMEs
The Commercial Bank of Ceylon was the biggest lender to Sri Lanka’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sector by a huge margin in 2023, accounting for nearly a third of the value of the loans disbursed by a total of 17 state and private sector lending institutions, the Ministry of Finance has confirmed. According to [...]
NDB Bank collaborates with IFC
In a significant move towards empowering women and promoting financial inclusion in Sri Lanka, NDB Bank has partnered with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to conduct a series of training programmes for female entrepreneurs. These initiatives organised under NDB’s Banking on Women platform and NDB Araliya, the bank’s dedicated women’s proposition, aim to equip women [...]
Counterfeit parts of Honda brand seized by police
Honda Motor Company with the support of the Colombo Crime Division (CCD) have begun taking steps to combat the illicit sale of counterfeit spare parts. Recently, several criminal raids were conducted in Kurunegala, Rathnapura, Homagama and Panchikawatte areas, which resulted in the arrest of several dealers who were involved in the distribution of counterfeit spare [...]
Revenue mobilisation efforts underway
By Bandula Sirimanna The Government has taken fiscal consolidation measures under the revenue mobilisation strategies to ensure that adequate financing is available for the investments in public services and social programmes. Funding is to be made for education, healthcare, transportation and public safety, infrastructure and welfare programmes, unemployment benefits, and support for vulnerable segments of [...]
Group dynamics important in PPPs
By Duruthu Edirimuni Chandrasekera Among myths revolving around public-private partnerships, is the notion that borrowing from donors is cheaper to build which ranked the highest, according to an expert. This was discussed at the annual CFA Society Sri Lanka Capital Market Awards recognising and rewarding excellence in the local capital markets on Tuesday under the [...]
IRD eyes those who evade taxes
By Raj Moorthy Although the total number of registered taxpayers increased by 130 per cent in 2023, from a low base, the Government through the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) has taken measures to help broaden the tax compliance to ensure that all those who ought to be paying tax, are indeed paying tax. Speaking at [...]