Piled-up vegetables
Vegetables have been piling up at economic centres across the country without much trade owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. Picture by Kanchana Kumara Ariyadasa shows vegetable stocks at the Dambulla Economic Centre.
Crisis at the Colombo Port
The Colombo port is facing a critical period of congestion, traffic and low worker turnout due to the COVID-19 outbreak causing delays for exporters while vessels bypass Colombo. “If we continue to have delays and miss connections then the next few weeks will be critical,” Ceylon Association of Ships’ Agents (CASA) Chairman Iqram Cuttilan said [...]
Share prices soar in Colombo
The Colombo stock market is experiencing heavy retail and high net worth individual (HNWI) trading with fresh cash being pumped into stocks with potential in the export markets. Stockbrokers said that a fresh set of HNWI is in the market. Among them, vehicle importers who are stuck with the cash with the prevalent import restrictions [...]
Covid-19: Businesses digitise to avoid aKodak moment
Known mostly for its photography and film, Kodak’s parochial management froze in time with preconceived notions on who took pictures, why and when – totally missing the rise of digital technologies. Kodak filed for bankruptcy in 2012 and is now a corporate bogeyman cautioning firms of the need to arise and counter when disruptive developments [...]
Online shopping — still a long way to go
The pandemic is serving as a catalyst for change – primarily on the consumer shopping behaviour, which has evolved so much in the last few months. The initial lockdown in March put stress on the way we normally live our lives, and online trading became a landmark for shifting consumer behaviours. So we thought that [...]
Credit card and gold pawning debt grows
Middle class (low and middle income) families and urban and rural poor households across the country have been struggling with severe economic hardships and most of them are living on borrowings after spending all their savings. The income sources of 64 per cent of the households have been affected while 7 per cent lost their [...]
Troubled factories resume half pay
Factories are now compelled to fall back on the previous half pay for workers at home as no proper work had got underway since the first week of last month following the outbreak of the COVID-19 Minuwangoda cluster. Lately factories have requested that the Labour Minister grant an extension on the half pay for workers [...]
Trapped in debt
It’s abundantly clear that the recent visit by the United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was to drive a wedge in the ‘cordial’ relations between Sri Lanka and China. That the US is getting jittery over Sri Lanka’s strong ties with China, in recent years, was clearly seen in Pompeo’s anti-China comments during his [...]
Doing things better
The bus driver opened the front door for passengers, then took his folder with a sheet on it and the pencil into his hand, and marked the number of passengers getting down and getting in. Then he kept the folder aside, closed the door, and drove the bus forward. At every bus halt, he does [...]
Motor vehicle export and registration issues
The export of vehicles over 50 years old were banned in Sri Lanka. There is also a law that bans the import of vehicles over three years old, into the country. The State Minister for Transport has announced that the ban on the export of old cars has been lifted and classic and vintage motor [...]
EDB intensifies online export promotions
The Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) in collaboration with the Foreign Ministry and overseas Sri Lankan missions has initiated online sessions to enable foreign buyers and Sri Lankan exporters meet via virtual platforms, due to the difficulties of organising physical export promotion programmes during this pandemic situation. Numerous B2B meetings were conducted by the [...]
Ceylinco Life’s 9-month income up 14% to Rs.26 b
Sri Lanka’s life insurance market leader Ceylinco Life has posted consolidated income of Rs. 26 billion for the nine months ending September 39, 2020, a growth of 14 per cent from the same period last year, during a period dominated by adverse conditions for business. Gross Written Premium income for the period grew by 13.8 [...]
Project Monitoring Units discontinue due to poor performance
Project Monitoring Units (PMUs) of ongoing development projects, located in ministries, are to be discontinued as most of these units failed to ensure that resources allocated for public investment are utilised in an efficient and effective manner, Finance Ministry sources divulged. These projects will be continued with the existing staff in relevant ministries as the [...]
Fairfirst Insurance settles over 1,100 motor claims within one hour, every month
The notion of lengthy claim settlement processes after an accident is a time consuming and strenuous situation for a customer. With this understanding, Fairfirst introduced a revolutionary virtual assessment technology known as Click2Claim (C2C), where a policyholder is able to conduct a self-inspection of the damage virtually – by converting their phone camera into video [...]
EFL, first SL logistics unit to set science-based targets on reducing emissions
Expolanka Freight (EFL) has marked another milestone in its sustainability journey with an official commitment to the Science-based Targets initiative (SBTi), a global project that aims to provide business leaders with the accountability framework they need to reduce their carbon footprint. SBTi is a collaboration between CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project), the United Nations [...]
FIU allows FIs to verify KYC online
Financial Institutions (FIs) can now verify their KYC (Know Your Customer) details electronically when customers open accounts online, similar to the CDS (Central Depository System) authenticating identities of persons opening accounts online. This was facilitated by the Central Bank’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) last week by issuing ‘guidelines for non-face-to-face customer identification and verification using [...]
Dialog’s Genie enhances E-Payment Security with tokenization
Offering customer’s greater avenues of convenience coupled with a future-fit payment security model Genie, Sri Lanka’s first PCI-DSS-certified payment app, powered by Dialog Axiata PLC has adopted tokenization technology to eliminate friction in its payment process and provide a quick checkout experience. “With increased attention surrounding mobile payments and a myriad of merchants migrating online, [...]
Tea prices buoyant
The Colombo tea auction this week was buoyant with a good demand fetching improved prices and some of the peak shipments due for the winter season set to go through for markets in North Africa and West Asia. Increased demand totalled 5.9 million kg of tea sold at the auction this week in time for [...]
Prices of essential commodities soar before 2021 Budget
Commodity traders and businessmen have jacked up prices of several essential food items despite a reduction in taxes on key commodities with the authorities being lax in instituting action. In anticipation of a hike in taxes in the November 17 Budget 2021, importers are also hoarding items. The Special Commodity Levy (SCL) was reduced on [...]