Economic

Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal via a tweet issued a rebuttal to yesterday’s Daily FT’s exclusive feature of leaders of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and top economists’ call to defer foreign debt repayment via rescheduling and use scarce resources to meet essential imports.

Reduced NGJA service fee for exports gazetted
Gems, diamonds and jewellery exports up 64% to $ 229 m in first 10 months of 2021

The Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal yesterday allayed unfounded fears over a sovereign default or bankruptcy and said it had set aside $ 500 million for upcoming redemption of International Sovereign Bonds.

Employers Federation informs Labour Minister members can only consider Rs. 5,000 allowance if economy improves
Opines private sector had extra expenses to keep business afloat for the past COVID-hit 2 years
Labour Minister calls on private sector to submit a collective document to present to Cabinet
Minister insists on importance of protecting employees and employers interests for economic recovery and stability

The Colombo stock market finished a stellar week on a high note notwithstanding growing concerns over macro-economic stability and crisis on food and other essential items in the country.

ASPI crosses historic 13,000 points mark; turnover tops Rs. 15 b due to strategic deals and retail rally

First six days of Jan. attracts 16,000 tourists
Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga anticipates monthly tourist arrivals will improve to 100,000-125,000 in Q1

The country is facing an acute shortage of flour amidst the foreign exchange crisis with many industries related to it being affected.

State-run Litro Gas Lanka Ltd. has called for Expressions of Interest (EoI) from eligible and qualified interest parties for the supply of 60,000 tons of +/- 20% of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in March.

Special GST to be new composite tax payable on number of specified goods and services
Special unit under Deputy Secretary to the Treasury to collect tax
Certain goods to be given exemptions
Rate applicable to be made by Order of Finance Minister
Tax payments to be made by electronic fund transfer
Bill to Parliament later this month

Chairman assures current LPG shortage will soon be resolved
Starts issuing 90,000 to 100,000 cylinders per day
Opines firm had not seen a drop in demand though people opted for alternatives
Claims long queues a result of pent-up demand including 50% December demand and 20% productivity drop
Reveals firm had no traceability mechanism since inception, but now planning to introduce RFID system
Reveals additional insurance cover worth Rs. 1 m introduced to each Litro consumer, could avail it by calling on 1311 Customer Service

The Cabinet of Ministers at its meeting on Monday gave the go ahead for Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa to gazette the Special Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill and submit it in Parliament for approval.

Lists 7 proposals which he believes can sustainably boost foreign currency reserves by $ 11 billion per annum
Says Govt. must approach IMF with two conditions – retaining tax concessions for new investments and pursuing a managed float of the rupee

The Colombo stock market sustained its resilience for a week yesterday as both indices closed positive with nearly Rs. 10 billion turnover.

Sri Lanka aims to attract 2.3 million tourists for this year with key focus on the Indian, Middle Eastern and Russian markets, whilst hoping that the traditional markets in Europe will rebound in the latter part of 2022.

මුදල් නෝට්ටු අච්චු ගැසීම තවදුරටත් සිදු නොකිරීමට මහ බැංකුව තීරණය කර තිබෙනවා. මුදල් අච්චු ගැසීම වෙනුවට වෙළඳපොලෙන් අවශ්‍ය මුදල් රැස් කර ගැනීමටයි තීරණය කර තිබෙන්නේ.

Advocata’s Bath Curry Indicator (BCI), which tracks the monthly changes in the retail price of food, has recorded an increase of 15% from November 2021 to December 2021.

The Colombo stock market sustained its 2022 opening positivity for the second consecutive day despite mid-day profit-taking amidst high turnover.