Economic

Volume shipped down by near 50% to lowest ever at 13.8 m kilos; value suffers similar dip to Rs. 11.5 b

The Central Bank yesterday approved Union Bank’s request to cease operations as a Primary Dealer, the monetary authority said in a statement.

Challenges to Sri Lankan ICT industry due to Covid-19 pandemic situation are quite similar to what is being experienced in many other industries too. Among them, possibility of collapsing markets and therefore the risk of uncertainty for survival and sustain in business (at least to secure revenues sufficient to cover the overheads)has become the most commonly visible challenge.

The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) has extended the demurrage-free period in the Colombo Port till 7 May as a relief measure to the import trade and shipping community.

Rating downgraded to ‘B-’ with Outlook Negative
COVID-19 to worsen concerns triggered by tax cuts last Dec.
SL must repay $ 3.2 b from May-Dec. but reserves at $ 7.2 b
Given volatility of financial markets SL expected to stay away
Even if bilateral efforts to raise funds successful, $ 13.8 b to be repaid from 2021-2023
Budget deficit expected to rise to 9.3%
Debt to GDP ratio to rise to 94% in 2020, 96% in 2021
Expects economy to contract by 1%
Says postponing elections extends policy uncertainty and IMF assistance

Sri Lanka companies in consumer goods retail and construction-related activities also have lower rating headroom than in most other sectors, Fitch Ratings said in its ‘Coronavirus Screener for Sri Lankan Corporates‘.

Supporting the country’s efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, Pan Asia Bank has deployed a range of value added services to ensure customers can stay home safe and yet access its banking solutions.

The Peliyagoda fish market will reopen for trade today after the 529 people working there tested negative for COVID-19.

The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority has drafted plans for an early revival post-COVID-19, as the country starts opening up gradually from this week.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ප්‍රමුඛතම සන්නිවේදන සම්පාදකයා වන ඩයලොග් ආසිආටා පීඑල්සී සමාගම, සෞඛ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශය විසින් තෝරාගත් රෝහල් සඳහා කඩිනමින් අවශ්‍ය දැඩි සත්කාර ඒකක සංවර්ධනය සඳහා රු. ලක්ෂ 2000ක් ලබාදීමට එකඟ වී තිබේ. අත්‍යවශ්‍ය සෞඛ්‍ය සේවා සැපයීමට සහ සියලුම රෝගීන්ට දැඩි සත්කාර ප්‍රතිකාර ලබාගැනීමට අවස්ථා උදාකර දීම සඳහා මෙරට සෞඛ්‍ය පද්ධතිය වැඩි දියුණු කිරීම වෙනුවෙන් මෙම මුදල යෙදවෙනු ඇත.

මීගොඩ ආර්ථික මධ්‍යස්ථානයේ වෙළඳ මෙහෙයුම් කටයුතු අද (24) සිට කාණ්ඩ දෙකක් යටතේ සිදු කිරීමට එහි පාලනාධිකාරිය තීරණය කර ඇත.

Sri Lanka’s headline inflation as measured by the year-on-year change in the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI), has decreased to 7.0% in March 2020 from 8.1% in February 2020,Central Bank announced.

කොරෝනා වසංගතය හේතුවෙන් අඩාල වී ඇති ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ආර්ථිකය ගොඩගැනීම සඳහා ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් කෝටි 200ක්වත් විදේශ මූල්‍ය ආධාර ලැබිය යුතුබව ජනාධිපති ලේකම්, ආචාර්ය පී.බී. ජයසුන්දර මහතා පවසයි.

The Central Fish Market Complex in Peliyagoda will be reopened for business for wholesale traders from tomorrow (25), says the Peliyagoda Fish Vendors’ Association.

The Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) yesterday announced a Maximum Retail Price (MRP) for turmeric powder at Rs. 750 per kg, due to the growing demand in the market for the spice, which in turn has led to a shortage.

We, as Lanka Hotels and Residencies (Pvt.) Ltd., the owners of Sheraton Colombo would like to reassure our partners, employees, prospective professionals and all other key takeholders on the continuity and steadfast commitment for the opening of our flagship Project in Sri Lanka - Sheraton Colombo Hotel a 320 room property at Galle Road.

ICRA Lanka expects the Sri Lankan economy to face a recession of magnitude -1.9% in 2020 with a U-shape recovery path returning to its pre-crisis level by Q1 of 2021.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL) yesterday issued guidelines for all airlines, doubling the maximum passenger transit time at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA).