Economic

The Colombo Stock Market opened a fresh week on a negative note, after having failed to rise sharply over a Government touted “development-oriented and investor-friendly” Budget 2021, prompting analysts to claim investor sentiments are bruised more than invigorated.

Reuters: Sri Lanka’s main stock index closed higher yesterday and eked out a slight gain for the week, helped by advances in stocks of consumer staples companies.

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce said yesterday it welcomed the proposals put forward by the Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in the National Budget 2021 which it termed as business friendly, production-oriented and demonstrative of policy continuity.

The 2021 Budget announced tax concessions to encourage listing of companies on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) may not ensure a spike in new PLCs in the country, as highlighted at the Daily FT-Colombo Uni. MBAA organised forum on Friday.

The International Chamber of Commerce Sri Lanka (ICCSL) yesterday welcomed the proposals presented in Parliament by the Prime Minister and Finance Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in the Budget 2021.

The freshly-unveiled Budget 2021 policies are aimed at focusing on multiple aspects of the economy to drive forward growth, including capital market expansion, socioeconomic development and attract investment, a top official said yesterday, terming it as the bedrock for Sri Lanka’s next wave of economic expansion.

The Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI) said yesterday it will target more strategic investments following the tremendous opportunities provided by 2021 Budget, which was approved in Parliament on Saturday (21 November).

Budget 2021 encompasses the business-friendly outlook of the Government and embeds stability, inclusivity and consistency in its myriad proposals, a top official said yesterday, insisting the key policy document anchored growth as the foundation of Sri Lanka’s future development.

Treasury Secretary S.R. Attygalle yesterday said that the upcoming special single Goods and Services Tax (GST) which is one of the major proposals in 2021 Budget will be either revenue neutral or positive as the rate will be determined prior to its implementation from January.

The Central Bank said its operations remain uninterrupted despite the detection of a COVID-positive case last week.

The motor industry yesterday claimed that price reduction of spare parts was unlikely, despite Prime Minister and Finance Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa signalling it during the 2021 Budget presentation on Tuesday.

The 2021 Budget unveiled yesterday listed key reforms in the financial services sector including much-needed consolidation within finance companies and revamp supervision of non-bank financial institutions.

‘ඇවන්ට් ඇග්‍රෝ’ පෞද්ගලික සමාගම වෙත රජයේ ලබාදීම සඳහා කෘෂිකර්ම දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව එකඟත්වය පළ කර ඇති බව වාර්තාවේ.බඩ ඉරිඟු වගා කිරීමේ නියමු ව්‍යාපෘතියක් වෙනුවෙන් අදාල ඉඩම් එම සමාගම වෙත මුදා හැරීමට අනුමැතිය ලබාදී ඇතැයි කෘෂිකර්ම දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවට සම්බන්ධ ආරංචි මාර්ග පවසා සිටී.කෙසේ නමුත්න් එම සමාගම රජයෙන් ඉල්ලා ඇති අක්කර 40000ක වෙනුවට මුල් වටයේදී නියමු ව්‍යාපෘතියක් ලෙස අක්කර 5000ක් පමණක් ලබාදීමට කෘෂිකර්ම අමාත්‍යාංශය විසින් අනුමැතිය ලබා දී තිබේ.

The Free Trade Zone Manufacturers Association (FTZMA) has urged the Government to properly study the pros and cons of the proposed raise in retirement age to 60 before implementation of the 2021 Budget move.

Via the 2021 Budget presented yesterday, the Government announced several tax relief measures to facilitate post-COVID-19 recovery, especially targeting SMEs.

- අග්නිදිග ආසියාවේ විශාලතම ටයර් නිෂ්පාදනාගාරය වන රිජිඩ් ටයර් කෝපරේෂන් කර්මාන්තශාලා පරිශ්‍රය නිරීක්‍ෂණයෙන් අනතුරුව ඇමති විමල් කියයි.

The Board of Investment of Sri Lanka yesterday signed an agreement with world-leading Chinese tyre manufacturer, Shandong Haohua Tire Co. Ltd., to set up a project to manufacture tyres for the export market.

Prime Minister and Finance Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday urged businessmen to bring back their allegedly “hidden money”.