Economic

Sri Lanka’s commercial banks have backtracked from the disbursement of concessionary loans granted by the government via Central Bank (CB)’s re-finance scheme among COVID-19-affected businesses including MSMEs (medium and small enterprises), a large number of MSMEs complained.

www.arabianindustry.com: Like the UAE, Sri Lanka is located in a central point between East and West and is well positioned to be a transit hub. Of course, transforming into an international hub requires huge amounts of investment in the kind of aviation infrastructure the UAE boasts.

The Government has no intention of seeking funds through the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI), as debt servicing has been effectively managed, State Minister of Capital Markets and State Enterprise Reforms Ajith Nivard Cabraal told Parliament yesterday.

Sri Lanka is turning to its China for a financial lifeline in curing the ailing economy and a balance of payment crisis emerging over the massive debt situation

Reuters: Shares rose for a third straight session on Friday on the back of gains in financial and industrial stocks, although the index booked its biggest weekly decline in over six months.

The government reiterates the need of a legal framework to regulate unregulated money lending activities so that a better and more effective regulatory environment is created for money lending institutions in the future.

Recent exemption of Withholding Tax (WHT) on dividend income received by foreigners has been welcomed by analysts.

In the first eight months of 2020, Sri Lanka’s trade deficit shrank by $ 1 billion to $ 3.8 billion from $ 4.8 billion in 2019, helped by import restrictions and strong export performances since June with the latest numbers of $ 947 million in August helping the decline despite it being a weaker performance than the preceding months, latest data from the Central Bank showed yesterday.

Cabinet has approved a proposal to extend the preferential interest rates for Special Deposit Accounts (SDAs) introduced by the Government to attract foreign exchange and to permit the transfer of their income to local bank accounts.

The Board of Investment (BOI) yesterday confirmed that all 14 export processing zones (EPZs) are in operation, adhering to the Health Ministry policy decision to conduct PCR test for the factory workers.

Sri Lanka’s trade unions continuously highlighted the pathetic working conditions of local workers, especially in the large apparel industry in the export manufacture sector that boasts of a major contribution to the country's foreign exchange revenue

In an effort to improve investment, Cabinet has given approval for land to be allocated to 10 companies to invest Rs. 1.14 billion in six industrial zones across the country, which is expected to generate 555 new employment opportunities, a top official said yesterday.

Sri Lankan Air lines, the national carrier is now planning to recoup lost revenues in Covid-19 crisis by focusing on its strongest markets especially in Far East and the Middle East.
The Air line expects the Far East market to recover fastest so Sri Lankan will treat it as a priority during its initial recovery, top official of the national carrier disclosed.

Sri Lanka’s economy may contract as much as 6.7 percent in 2020, the World Bank has said as a Coronavirus crisis hit exports, domestic demand and the external sector has also weakened under monetary stimulus.

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon yesterday announced the completion of all formalities relating to the private placement of shares with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the receipt of $ 50 million (Rs 9.215 billion) from the latter for 115,197,186 ordinary voting shares in the bank.

INSEE Cement, Sri Lanka’s leading and only 100% local cement manufacturer has issued an update and progress report of work completed towards the rehabilitation and reforestation efforts addressing the incident of illegal encroachment and forest clearing in its long-term leased land in Aruwakkalu.

BoardPAC recently commemorated its 8th consecutive year in successful partnership with Maxis, the leading converged solutions company in Malaysia. The partnership enabled BoardPAC to be recognised as the leading provider in board meeting governance automation in Malaysia, helping transform businesses through remote, convenient and secure board meetings.

A career banker who counts over 40 years of professional industry experience, D. P. K. Gunasekera has assumed his duties as the General Manager of Bank of Ceylon with immediate effect.