Economic

Celebrating the momentous occasion of adding 269 hectares to the land of Sri Lanka as a valuable extension to the Colombo Central Business District, a commemorative stamp and first day cover is to be issued under the patronage of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Cheng Xueyuan on 7 December.

Commercial Bank PLC was last night crowned as the winner at CA Sri Lanka’s 55th Annual Report Awards, clinching the coveted “Cyril Gardiner Memorial Trophy” for overall excellence in financial reporting. Hayleys PLC came second, whilst the bronze was shared by Hatton National Bank and LB Finance PLC.

The Kingsbury, one of Sri Lanka’s iconic hotels, opens a brand new chapter in its history on December 7 under a 750 million-rupee revamp of the Colombo property.

The Hambantota International Port (HIP) had a busy week with six RORO ships calling at the port, discharging 18,288 vehicles from which 16,830 were for transshipment and 1,458 were for local agencies.

The government will be implementing a tax Policy framework with a view to creating a simple, transparent and efficient tax system, Finance Ministry announced.

Sri Lanka is set to further advance the financial sector by introducing Blockchain Technology while ensuring the safety and soundness of the banking system.

මේ වනවිට වෙළඳපොලේ සහල් මිල සීඝ්‍රයෙන් ඉහළ යාම නිසා දිවයින පුරා පාරිභෝගිකයින් අපහසුතාවට පත්ව සිටින බව වාර්තා වේ.

The Government has called for reports from all public and private banks to evaluate microfinance loans and borrowings taken by small and medium businesses this week, a top official said yesterday pledging to provide relief in the coming months.

The Sri Lanka Retailers’ Association (SLRA) has been lobbying for more e-commerce trading and setting up an effective payment gateway to build a vibrant retail industry in the country, said Sri Lanka Retail Forum Chairman Murally Prakash on the sidelines of the ‘Sri Lanka Retail Forum-2019’ in Colombo last week.

Sri Lanka’s printing sector is now not only aiming to become the print hub of Asia but it also poised to launch a three pronged strategy to achieve the status of the Lankan printer’s version of ‘Green Valley’ promoting sustainability.

Ability to carry out domestic banking business in SL cancelled from 1 April

The business community while welcoming the slew of tax reforms to stimulate economic growth noted that the move would result in fiscal implications particularly with the reduction in the government’s tax revenue by about one third.

Markets in Sri Lanka surged after a long spell and people were delighted by the new tax breaks announced by the government but the move worried economic experts owing to a drop in tax revenue and cash inflows.

The Central Bank will be introducing a new scoring system for the Credit Information Bureau (CRIB).

There would be no effect on the import tax on motor vehicles despite the major tax concessions which were announced on Wednesday. Only the prices of buses and trucks registered less than five years from the country of export could be reduced the Vehicle Importers Association of Sri Lanka (VIASL) Chairman Ranjan Peiris said.

පසුගිය නොවැම්බර් 20 දක්වා සතිය තුළ විදෙස් ආයෝජකයන් මිලදී ගෙන ඇති බැඳුම්කර වටිනාකම රුපියල් බිලියන 4.2කි. මේ අනුව මුළු තොගය රුපියල් බිලියන 120.8ක් දක්වා ඉහළ ගොස් ඇති බව නිල දත්ත පෙන්වා දෙයි.

The new interim government has decided to abolish much debated fuel pricing formula almost eleven months after its introduction by the previous regime heeding one of the conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in approving its US$ 1.5 billion Extended Fund Facility .

A gradual revival in domestic economic activity is expected over the medium term Economic growth is predicted to be modest during the remainder of the year, with likely subpart growth in Industry and Services activities as implied by leading indicators.