Category: Industry
Export Plus
The Sri Lanka Export Credit Insurance Corporations is looking to raise its liability exposure to Rs. 40 bn with the expansion of its product portfolio.Current liability exposure has reached Rs.13 bn, up from around Rs. 4 billion in April this year. rn rnTo support its portfolio expansion, SLECIC Chairman Hemaka de Alwis says a plan […]
Code Share
The telecom watchdog is working on a set of emergency short codes and value added service codes that will work on any network. Fire, police, ambulance, directory assistance and fault reporting are among the services that will be available on short code and will be in place after the ongoing ten digit number change due […]
Cost Cutting
Tritel Services is talking to regional telecom players to sell a low cost payphone system designed for thinly populated areas. The card phone system, designed and built in-house will cost 50 percent less than the lowest priced alternative available in the market today costing around US$ 1,500.rn rnTritel CEO, Robert Schuster told Lanka Business Online […]
Rural Clean Up
The Treasury is to sell off a 47 percent stake it holds in each of the six rural development banks and offer it up to private management.Under the new structure, the Central Bank, which controls around 67 percent of the rural development banks (RDBs), will continue to hold 20 percent. The Central Bank had earlier […]
Goodbye
The government has announced a massive voluntary retirement package to its employees in more than 50 institutions already identified for closure, merger or restructuring.The institutions themselves will have to find the required funding to pay off those that are willing to take up early retirement.rn rnA Treasury circular says that identified government institutions can offer […]
Minor Tremor
A minority stake in Sri Lanka Telecom is unlikely to make it to the market this year, as authorities feel the time is not ripe.The telecom giant has also offered a voluntary retirement scheme to shed excess staff, as part of an overall restructuring exercise.rn rnThe government had earlier told the IMF they were planning […]
Come Clean
Depositors have asked for the updated financial status of Pramuka Bank to make a detailed restructuring proposal to Central Bank.ldblquote We need to clean up the balance sheet and find the exact situation to deal with it, dblquote says K C Vignarajah who was brought in by the depositors as an independent figurehead to represent […]
Foreign Deposit
Commercial Bank will seek regulatory approval to acquire Credit Agricole Indosuezs (CIA) Bangladesh operations. The acquisition will give Commercial Bank its first overseas outpost and falls in line with plans to expand operations into the South Asian region.rn rnldblquote The Commercial Banks intended acquisition of CAI Bangladesh is part of the banks stated goal of […]
Pay Me
Telco firms will soon introduce charges to terminate calls on each others networks, a fee expected to cover infrastructure costs. Only Sri Lanka Telecom presently, charges a termination fee from mobile operators under the present system. rn rnBetween other operators, its is agreed that the network sending the call, keeps the revenue to cancel off […]
Big League
Indian telco giant, Videsh Sanchara Nigam Limited (VSNL) will transfer part of its international bandwidth on the SEA ME WE III (three) submarine cable to its Sri Lankan offshoot. The cable capacity will be in addition to a satellite earth station that will be set up to provide overseas call services.rn rnVSNL will initially run […]
Choppy Ride
The Central Bank on Monday named financial institutions that are not registered with the bank, but continue to raise funds from the public.The 31 companies named, raise funds not by deposits, but by other means like debentures, commercial paper and promissory notes.rn rnThe notice comes after the Central Bank named 27 companies in January for […]
Home Zone
Localising its online service, Emirates on Monday announced the launch of its website for Sri Lanka – www.The local extension will provide online visitors with special promotions and information tied to Sri Lanka along with the regularly featured facilities like booking services and flight schedules. rn rn”This is an exciting development for Emirates in Sri […]