Category: Featured
No liberalization of professionals under upcoming FTAs: Kelegama
Sept 20, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s bilateral free trade agreements that are currently being considered have no liberalization of professionals, a senior official confirmed. Sri Lanka is currently negotiating with India to deepen the existing Indo-Lanka FTA via Economic and Technology Cooperative Agreement (ETCA), and is talks with China and Singapore to sign bilateral […]
Interview: Sri Lanka stock earnings +6 pct in June quarter, valuations improve
Sept 20, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lankan listed companies posted earnings of 49.9 billion rupees in the quarter to June, up six percent from the same quarter last year, according to Acuity Stockbrokers. Together with a depressed market, this means valuations have improved. Lanka Business Online spoke to Chethana Ellepola, head of research at Acuity […]
Sri Lanka should add 1275MW to grid by 2020: PUCSL
Sep 19, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s power regulator Public Utilities Commission (PUCSL) has given the nod for the Ceylon Electricity Board’s (CEB) to add 1,275 megawatts of power to the national grid during next four years through the least cost long term generation expansion plan (LCLTGEP) 2015 – 2034. “The plants listed in the […]
Sri Lanka vehicle registrations rebound from July lows: JB
Sept 19, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka vehicle registrations saw a rebound in August from the July lows in the categories of small cars, three-wheelers, two-wheelers and mini trucks, JB Securities said. Motor car registrations in August were 3,011 units, up from 2,596 units the previous month, although significantly down from a high of 14,544 […]
Sri Lanka GDP expands 2.6-pct in second quarter 2016
Sept 15, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s economy expanded 2.6 percent in the second quarter of 2016 from a year earlier, led by services activities, the state statistics office said. The Gross Domestic Product of Sri Lanka for the second quarter of 2016 at constant price reportedly reached up to 2,130,240 million rupees against 2,075,805 […]
Sri Lanka revises VAT threshold for wholesale & retail trade
Sept 14, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s cabinet has approved a new draft bill revising the VAT liable threshold for wholesale and retail trade, a cabinet decision said. Under the new amendments, the threshold for VAT liability on wholesale or retail supply of goods has been revised to 12.5 million rupees for a quarter, or 50 […]
Sri Lanka budget deficit to be 4.7-pct in 2017, FinMin tells IMF
Sep 14, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister said that the island plans on reducing the budget deficit to 4.7 percent in 2017. “We had a budget deficit of 6.7 percent of the GDP last year and this year’s target will be 5.4 percent. it will be further reduced to 4.7 percent in 2017,” […]
Sri Lanka’s cabinet approves VAT increase: State Finance Minister
Sept 13, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Cabinet has approved the VAT increase in principle as required by the Supreme Court judgment, State Finance Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said. The Supreme Court issued an interim order in July preventing the government from implementing the 4 percent VAT increase until the consent of the cabinet and […]
‘s unemployment 4.2-pct in first quarter 2016
Sep 13, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s unemployed is estimated as 349,686 during the first quarter 2016 and the unemployment rate was 4.2 percent, marginally down from the average 4.6 percent in 2015. According to the latest data the estimated economically active population is about 8.3 million in the first quarter, of which 63.3 percent […]
Sri Lanka foreign reserves up USD125mn in August: Central Bank
Sept 12, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s official reserves rose 124.7 million US dollars to 6.6 billion dollars in August, up from 6.5 billion dollars end of July, official Central Bank data showed. Foreign currency reserves were 5.6 billion US dollars, and reserves in Gold were 0.94 billion US dollars. Central Bank has purchased 190.8 […]
Hanjin shipping bankruptcy to have indirect impact on Sri Lanka
Sept 10, 2016 (LBO) – The filing for bankruptcy by South Korean container shipper Hanjin Shipping will have an indirect impact on Sri Lanka with reduced space for cargo originating from the island, an industry official said. Hanjin, ranked the seventh largest globally, with 98 ships and 2.9 percent share of trade, has about 14 […]
Sri Lanka to adopt chip card system before end 2017: Central Bank
Sept 09, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is looking at completely adopting the more secure and efficient chip card system before the end of next year, a Central Bank official said. This will be among several other initiatives lined up for implementing in the coming years under the 2020 road map for developing a national […]