Category: Economy and Markets
‘s Finance Minister should resign; he has no plan: Dhammika Perera
Newly-appointed Minister of Investment Promotion Dhammika Perera calls for the immediate resignation of Finance Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. “Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister plans for a disaster. The Minister of Finance has no plan or appetite to resolve the current dollar crisis,” Perera pointed out. “I think for these reasons, the Minister of Finance should resign.” Perera […]
SEC overhauls regulations; introduces a Code for Collective Investment Schemes
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC), the securities market regulator has prepared Rules pertaining to Market Institutions, Market Intermediaries and a Code for Collective Investment Schemes following the enactment of the new Securities and Exchange Commission Act No. 19 of 2021. These Rules which were made in terms of the powers vested in […]
CCPI-based headline inflation recorded at 55-pct in June; food inflation at 80-pct
Headline inflation, as measured by the year-on-year change in the Colombo Consumer Price Index increased to 54.6% in June 2022 from 39.1% in May 2022 driven by the monthly increases in both Food and Non-Food categories. Accordingly, Food inflation (Y-o-Y) increased to 80.1% in June 2022 from 57.4% in May 2022, while Non-Food inflation (Y-o-Y) […]
Nandalal Weerasinghe Re-appointed as Central Bank Governor
The Central Bank announces that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has re-appointed Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe as the Governor of the Central Bank for a further term of six years, with effect from 4th July 2022. The relevant appointment letter was handed over to Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, at President’s House in Colombo, today […]
CFA Capital Market Awards 2022 fetes best in the investment profession
The ninth annual CFA Capital Market Awards, organized by the CFA Society Sri Lanka, was held on Wednesday (29 June) at the Oak Room of Cinnamon Grand Colombo, recognizing and rewarding excellence in the local capital markets, with this year’s event focusing on the theme ‘Blockchain Revolution in Sri Lanka’s Capital Market’. Delivering the opening […]
IMF staff concludes visit to Sri Lanka; discussions to continue for a staff-level agreement on EFF
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission team led by Peter Breuer and Masahiro Nozaki visited Colombo from June 20 to 30, 2022 to discuss IMF support for Sri Lanka and the authorities’ comprehensive economic reform program. Anne-Marie Gulde-Wolf, Deputy Director of the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department, participated in policy discussions. At the end of […]
Sri Lanka economy contracted by 1.6-pct in 1Q 2022
The year-on-year GDP growth rate for the first quarter of 2022 has been estimated as negative 1.6 percent which indicated a considerable contraction of the economy compared to the first quarter of 2021, the Department of Census and Statistics revealed. The three major economic activities of the economy; ‘Agriculture’, ‘Industry’ and ‘Services’ have contributed their […]
Fuel to be supplied only for essential services from midnight: Cabinet
The remaining fuel stocks will be distributed only for essential services with effect from midnight today (June 27) until the 10th of July, Cabinet spokesman Minister Bandula Gunawardena said. Accordingly, essential services include ports, the health sector, distribution of essential food items, and transportation of agricultural products. Inter-provincial transport services will also be temporarily halted […]
Sri Lanka exports recorded 5-billion-dollar mark in five months
Earnings from the merchandise exports increased by 9.9 % y-o-y to US$ 980.2 Mn in May 2022 as per the data released by the Sri Lanka Customs. This was mainly due to the increase in earnings from export of Apparel & Textiles, Coconut based products and Electrical & Electronic Components. Table 1: Merchandise Export Performance […]
‘s Cauvery and Mannar Basins from FTG and aeromagnetic data
Bell Geospace, the world leaders in gravity gradiometry, has conducted the first aerial mapping of petroleum resources in Sri Lanka in Q4 of 2021, and will be presenting these insights – together with Wintermoon Geophysics- at the prestigious SEAPEX (South East Asia Petroleum Exploration Society) Asia Pacific Conference in London on Thursday the 30th of […]
Hemas, Dilmah, Brandix & Daraz come together to provide emergency relief under UNDP-led initiative
The health and food sectors are two of the most heavily affected by the ongoing economic crisis in Sri Lanka, with severe medical and food supply shortages, availability of basic pharmaceuticals and overall health and wellbeing continuing to be significantly affected. In this backdrop, building on established partnerships and keen interests of various actors, the […]
Central Bank to initiate actions against persons who hold over USD 10,000 in possession
With the intention of attracting foreign currency in the hands of the public into the formal banking system, the Minister of Finance has issued an Order under Section 8 of the Foreign Exchange Act No. 12 of 2017 as follows: (1) Reducing the amount of foreign currency retained in possession by a person in, or […]