CSE Mumbai road show: Huge challenge to counter negatives
View(s):By Duruthu Edirimuni Chandrasekera
Countering negative sentiments that prevail in Sri Lanka will be a key challenge for the team going on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) road show in Mumbai next month, industry analysts say.
“Whilst tackling the issue of the Sri Lankan share market being dominated by a mafia network, it’s a worst case scenario now with the impeachment of the Sri Lankan Chief Justice, Shirani Bandaranayake,” an analyst said. He said that fund managers and the investor community in Mumbai are bound to raise issues pertaining to the attempts by the Government to interfere with the judiciary in the recent impeachment process.
A stock market analyst said that already some have raised concern saying that Sri Lanka is on its way to becoming another Pakistan with the legislature and the judiciary at crossroads. “The probability for the CSE to be manipulated again (in the short term are) is minimal, but now when we try to attract investment the potential investors will ask questions.
The answers that our team will come up with will be interesting,” he added, noting that it will be easier to wield queries regarding the mafia but not the tale of two chief justices’. He also said that foreign investors’ distress about the rule of law in Sri Lanka had been sensitized to a new level now and that damage control is a necessity. The American Ambassador in Sri Lanka Michele J. Sison is reported to have said that due to the impeachment of the former chief justice, the whole judicial system in Sri Lanka is in peril, and would lead to the country finding it difficult to woo foreign investors.
However many agreed that the struggling share market which saw two chairpersons resign from its watchdog, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), needs a boost.
Priyani Ratna-Gopal, Country head of IIFL Securities Ceylon (Pvt) Ltd., slated to participate in the road show in Mumbai along with other stockbrokers told the Business Times that this road show will give awareness to those fund managers and investors in Mumbai. “Our indicators such as the GDP are better than those in the region. The earnings are projected to be good and many fund managers are looking at Sri Lanka because it is a growth story,” she added.
An analyst said that for the small investor, Sri Lanka posts greater potential than India. “This is an interesting element to attract small timers to the CSE,” he said.
Krishan Balendra, Chairman CSE told the Business Times that the CSE decided on Mumbai for a road show as the city houses many funds that invest in the region. “Many funds that invest in the region are based in Mumbai which has been developed as a financial centre for the past decade,” he said. John Keells Holdings, Carson Cumberbatch, HNB and NDB are due to participate in the road show along with others. Dr. Sarath Amunugama, Senior Minister and Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning will be leading the mission along with SEC and CSE officials.
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