Economic

A nine-day consecutive winning streak ended yesterday at the Colombo stock market as it closed negative though turnover remained over Rs. 1 billion amidst continued foreign selling.

Secretary to the Treasury S R Attygalle has strongly denied the allegations made by Deputy Governor of the Central Bank Nandalal Weerasinghe claiming that it was his fault that immediate aid provided to local businesses affected by COVID-19 pandemic was delayed.

In line with the Government’s development program and with the aim of uplifting the small and medium businesses adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, People’s Bank has introduced a special loan scheme with an interest rate of just 6%.

The Colombo Commercial High Court on Friday (26) refused to grant an interim injunction against Harrisons Colombo Limited & International Cosmetics (Private) Limited with respect to a case filed over the packaging/labeling and get-ups of ” Ape The’ “.

Cabinet has approved extending limits on outflow of foreign exchange for another six months and has also backed amending the Gazette to set up Special Deposit Accounts so that it falls in line with the Foreign Exchange Act No. 12 of 2017 and minimises dangers of money laundering.

State-owned industry giant Bank of Ceylon (BOC) is bolstering foreign funding as part of diversifying its sources of finances to spearhead critical post-COVID revival of enterprises and entrepreneurs in the country.

ද ෆිනෑන්ස් කම්පනි පීඑල්සී (ටීඑෆ්සී) හි තැන්පත්කරුවන්ට ගෙවන වන්දි ගෙවීමේ දෙවන අදියර 2016.07.02 දින සිට ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට මහ බැංකුව පියවර ගෙන තිබේ.

The Central Bank has approved 13,861 loan applications under the Phase-I of the refinancing scheme, totalling Rs. 27.9 billion, the Central Bank said yesterday.

The Monetary Board of the Central Bank, at its meeting on Friday decided to implement a Credit Guarantee and Interest Subsidy Scheme to accelerate lending by banks to businesses adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Central Bank (CBSL) yesterday took a fresh move to set the record straight on the regulation of finance and leasing companies in an apparent response to the recent criticism by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Local liquor manufacturers continue to express concerns over the quality and safety of products manufactured using locally-made ethanol, following the Government-imposed ban on the import of ethanol.

The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) yesterday announced the appointment of Dumith Fernando as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the CSE with effect from 1 July.

The sole shareholder Secretary to the Treasury has decided to de-list Hotel Developers (Lanka) PLC, the owning company of Hilton Colombo. The move is by way of a Special Resolution subject to the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Colombo stock market remained bullish for the seventh consecutive day amidst healthy turnover whilst investor cheer for John Keells Holdings (JKH) securing new low cost foreign funding boosted the indices.

A shipment of ethanol ordered for the production of alcohol was held by Customs on suspicion that it was ordered after the Government imposed a ban on the import of ethanol in January, but was cleared late on Friday evening following inspection.

The Central Bank yesterday sought to brighten its COVID-19 track record, insisting it had done all it could within its mandate in reducing rates to historic lows to increase liquidity, and insisted that while the stimulus will help in the short term, complete economic recovery will take all stakeholders of the economy and reforms. Being the apex financial institution of the country, the Central Bank provided its full scope of essential services to the economy and the financial system during the lockdown, it said in an extensive statement released yesterday.

The Central Bank said yesterday that it had formally requested the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) to investigate allegations against its staff and take necessary legal action if there is any evidence of wrongdoing. The Central Bank said the move followed reports in some print and online media accusing 50 senior officers of CBSL of obtaining monetary and other benefits from finance, leasing and micro finance companies.