Economic

Turnover at the Colombo stock market topped the Rs. 5.5 billion mark yesterday as investors continued to savour listed equities on the back of recent gains.

Sentiment surrounding the economy continued to deteriorate in October with only a third of business people consulted for the latest LMD-Nielsen Business Confidence Index (BCI) survey saying that economic conditions are likely to improve in the coming 12 months, declining from 48% in September.

Premier blue chip John Keells Holdings (JKH) yesterday reported a sharp decline in profit for the second quarter and first half, largely owing to COVID-19’s impact on the Leisure sector, but signalled recovery post re-opening of the country has been faster than anticipated.

The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) will issue ‘Safe and Secure’ compliance certification next week to over 40 hotels keen to resume operations post-COVID-19.

Reuters: On Friday, shares rose for a fourth straight session to end at their highest level since early January; helped by gains in industrial and financial stocks.

The Colombo stock market gathered more momentum yesterday with both indices up 1% but more importantly high turnover of Rs. 3.5 billion thanks to strong retail interest.

The Central Bank has extended the debt moratorium offered to COVID-hit businesses and individuals by a further six months from October, following the spread of the second wave of the pandemic in the country.

DUBAI (Reuters): Dubai’s Emirates airline is asking some pilots to take a year of unpaid leave as it seeks to cut costs due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Government has decided to extend the last date to furnish the Return of Income for the year of assessment 2019/2020 till 28 February 2021 after considering the difficulties arising out of the COVID-29 pandemic.

The Central Bank has extended the debt moratorium offered to COVID-hit businesses and individuals by a further six months from October, following the spread of the second wave of the pandemic in the country.

Having approved concessionary loans amounting to Rs.178 billion identifying the national importance of revamping the businesses affected by COVID-19 pandemic, the Central Bank has extended Grace Period of 4% Working Capital Loan Scheme from 6 Months to 9 Months.

Awarding the ISO 45001:2018 certification (from left): Litro Gas Terminal Lanka Director Operations Pushpakumara Edirisinghe, SGS Lanka Business Manager – Certification and Business Enhancement Chamika Wimalasiri, Litro Gas Lanka and Litro Gas Terminal Lanka Chairman and CEO Anil Koswatte, Litro Gas Lanka Director Health, Safety and Environment Jayantha Basnayake

In a major step, the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) has launched an action plan to address key areas relating to the process of listing a company on the Colombo Bourse with the objective of enhancing its efficiency thereby better serving the funding requirements of companies belonging to both state and private sectors.

කොවිඩ් වසංගත ​තත්ත්වයත් සමග ව්‍යාපාරිකයන් අසරණව සිටියදී ඔවුන් බැංකු ණය වෙනුවෙන් ඇපයට තිබූ දේපොළ ඇතැම් බැංකු මගින් වෙන්දේසි කිරීමට පියවර ගැනීම බලවත් අසාධාරණයක් බව ව්‍යාපාරික එකතුවකින් සැදුම්ලත් සිටුවර ජයබල සංවිධානායේ ජාතික සංවිධායක සිසිර වික්‍රමසේකර මහතා පවසයි.

The Colombo Stock Market bounced back strongly yesterday with higher turnover as investors showed signs of renewed optimism, despite a worsening COVID-19 situation in the country.

Sri Lanka’s foremost conglomerate, John Keells Holdings (JKH), showed resilient performance in second quarter as Group EBITDA excluding Leisure grew by 15% and businesses displayed strong recovery momentum.

Mass Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella yesterday said the Government was tasked with presenting the most challenging budget in the recent history.

The Government has decided to upgrade the decades-old Sapugaskanda oil refinery to produce a higher percentage of fuel needed by the local market and also plans to set up two more refineries in Hambantota and Trincomalee.